


ESV—A Face in the Crowd

by VStarTraveler



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-04-14 15:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14138757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VStarTraveler/pseuds/VStarTraveler
Summary: Arc 1:With time running out, the Dovahkiin recalls an event from early in his career that some might easily have overlooked.  However, to him, it ended up meaning everything.  Story Arc 1 (Parts 1-4) is complete!Arc 2:The Dovahkiin remembers his efforts to become a good father to and provider for his newly adopted daughter as he struggled with his love life. In the midst of all of this, he really had no interest at all in vampires. At least, he didn't until one fateful day...





	1. Arc 1—A Face in the Crowd—Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction, written totally for fun and not for profit. The various characters, places, and events mentioned remain the property of their respective owners.

I remember it clearly, that day I rushed through the Whiterun marketplace on my way to the city gate to go fight the dragon.

Almost every face in the busy marketplace expressed the same terror that I was feeling in my heart. I'd been lucky enough to escape with my life from the devastation at Helgen. Then, somehow, I made it through the barrow and recovered a stone tablet that the jarl's man felt might help us if the dragon returned, but it was when word came of the latest attack that I realized I must have used up all of my allotment of luck from the Divines and more to spare. I was standing in the group in front of the jarl with his advisors when the attack was reported. He was the picture of a leader, being quite decisive as he dispatched Irileth and her troops to go kill it. Then he invited me to accompany them.

I'd been away in the south for over fifteen years before returning to Skyrim only days before, but I remembered enough from my childhood about my Nord culture to know that one does not politely decline such an invitation when it comes from the jarl.

Therefore, with heavy, ill-fitting armor, an old sword that looked to have seen better days, and a bow that could have used a new string, I rushed from the jarl's palace, only pausing for a moment to grab an apple from the serving wench's basket as I passed by. Irileth and her squad were well ahead of me by this point, so I hurried to catch up with them.

Rushing down the steps to the marketplace, my thoughts soon focused on two points. First, I hoped to be courageous in the coming battle. Second, and increasingly more important as I continued to run, I hoped to live to be able to quickly return to the city. I very much wanted to be able to use some of the coins that the jarl's man had just given me to purchase better fitting armor that would help protect me without it rubbing and chafing so badly.

As I finally caught up and we entered the marketplace, someone came running in from Gate Street. He shouted, "The dragon is in the sky to the southwest! You can see it from the city walls!"

It was like throwing oil on a fire. Screaming and rushing about frantically, most of the people looked as frightened as I'd been during the events in Helgen just a few days before.

Then there was that one face, thin to the point of being almost gaunt, that showed no fear of dragons. Instead, she had a look of great sadness, as if facing a dragon would be no worse to her than whatever trepidations already filled her life. She didn't even seem to take notice as the guards in front of me passed her by, but she glanced up after they'd passed, perhaps thinking that was the last of us.

It was then that her big brown eyes met mine. There was no fear but there was no hope in them either. I tried to flash a brief smile as I, too, passed by her, but with the discomfort from my armor and the helmet covering part of my face, it may have looked more like one of the strange caricature masks I'd witnessed in the puppet theaters set up on certain busy corners in the Imperial City.

I was making my way out of the marketplace onto Gate Street, with the other troops again well ahead of me, when the impulse hit. I suddenly stopped and turned back. The girl was still standing there, but now she was looking down at her ragged shoes as most everyone else was fleeing to their homes and the few remaining foolhardy souls were heading toward the city wall to see if they could catch sight of the dragon for themselves.

"Hey, kid! Catch!" The apple went sailing toward her.

I turned so quickly to catch up with the guards that the helmet, which fit as poorly as the rest of the armor, blocked my peripheral vision and kept me from seeing whether she actually caught it. I thought I heard a weak "Thanks," but with the noise from the scattering crowd and my own heavy breathing, I wasn't sure if it was her or something else entirely. Moments later, I was outside the city gates where I clearly heard the heavy bar drop into place even as we gathered to listen to Irileth's short pep talk before making our way southwest to that watchtower.

In hindsight, the fight probably took every bit as long as it seemed since none of us even knew how to fight a dragon. In fact, it is even more embarrassing today than it was then (and, believe me, it was pretty bad then). I lost three arrows that day, all sailing well past the dragon to some unknown point out in the brush of the Whiterun plain. I was so excited when I saw the fourth arrow streak straight and true toward the beast. Excited, that is, until I saw it bounce off the dragon's thick hide and land in the rocks under its feet. The gigantic beast (which I later learned wasn't nearly as big as it seemed) proceeded to step on my arrow and break it into a hundred pieces.

~ESV~

_I pause in my writing and take a drink as I look out the window across the little harbor. I can see several ships that had arrived late in the morning or perhaps shortly after noon. At least two of them are flying banners of the jarls, and the bustling activity on a third leads me to believe that it is probably another._

_Unfortunately, that means that my time is limited, so I pick up my quill and dip it in the well once more... ___

__~ESV~_ _

__Well, seriously, three or four pieces, at least._ _

__My bowstring broke as I drew the next arrow, so I threw down the bow and rushed forward with my sword. I was shouting at the top of my lungs as I ran toward it, as if my paltry screams would do anything to scare or distract it._ _

__The dragon, doubtless, would have feasted on my bones if someone hadn't gotten in a killing blow before I'd finished closing the distance to it. Unfortunately for three of the guards, they had gotten too close to either its teeth, its tail, or its streaming gouts of fire; they didn't live to deal with the embarrassment of our own ineptitude or the misplaced glory that followed as a result of us getting lucky, thank the Divines, and living. It was all I could do to keep from throwing up as I looked at their mangled bodies._ _

__That, my grandson, is the point. Battle is fast and furious; it's dirty and ugly. If you're lucky enough to survive a fight to move forward to the next one, you may see horrible things that would almost make you wish that you hadn't lived to remember them. To learn to fight and kill and survive takes training, but sometimes it's more than that. Sometimes it has a lot to do with pure, dumb luck and being able to stomach the horrible sights instead of doubling over to vomit your guts out. Too many young warriors have been killed by more seasoned veterans while doing just that._ _

__It was all a blur after that first dragon died, with the rush, as-if of wind and warmth, flooding over me. It was later confirmed that I had, as one of the guards suggested, absorbed the dragon's very soul. I was indeed the Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn, and thus back in Whiterun that night I was awarded a basically meaningless title, was given a servant I didn't deserve, and was assigned a mission I'd never sought and that, truly, I never wanted._ _

__I spent the night in the jarl's residence in Dragonsreach, that high palace atop the mountain in Whiterun, but was sent on my way very early the next morning with Lydia, my new servant. It had been quite late the night before when she was assigned to me, and due to exhaustion on my part, we had barely spoken before falling asleep._ _

__~ESV~_ _

_I pause once more as I remember that long-ago evening. I had been quite surprised when Lydia said, matter-of-factly, that she would sleep with me. I then was still young, barely 26 years of age, and was quite verile. While she didn't look like my usual type, she was quite attractive, in her own way. Not knowing what she expected, I agreed with an "As you wish," but then was rather disappointed when she drew her sword and curled up on the bearskin rug at the foot of my bed, pulling part of the rug over and around her._

____

__

_I clean the nib of my quill as I smile; perhaps Andres doesn't need to know **everything**._

~ESV~

As we started making our way down the long flights of steps from the palace, I found Lydia to be a seemingly sullen young woman, but considering that she'd slept on the hard floor at the foot of my bed to protect me throughout the night, I didn't complain.

_____ _

_____ _

When we reached the marketplace on that early morn, it was mostly deserted with only a few vendors setting up their stalls. I glanced around, searching for the young girl from the afternoon before, but saw no sign of her. We were making the turn to Gate Street when I made a sudden decision.

"Lydia, hold up. I need to run in the tavern for a moment."

"Awfully early in the morning to be drinking, Thane. We need to be on our way since we have a long journey ahead."

I suppressed a laugh at the woman's seriousness. "I won't be inside but a moment. Wait here, please, and then we've got to stop at that blacksmith shop at the edge of town. I'm not walking halfway across Skyrim with this damned armor...well...it doesn't fit well."

Her lips were thin and I couldn't tell if she was trying to hold her tongue or to keep from laughing at me. Either way, I stopped just outside the door and made an exaggerated adjustment for her benefit. Like with the little girl and the apple, I couldn't see her reaction, but I clearly heard it this time. I was grinning when I entered The Bannered Mare.

I didn't know the innkeeper at the time, but I approached and said hello. "There was a little girl in the marketplace yesterday. Looked Imperial, with brown hair and eyes, wearing a green tunic over a mousy-looking skirt. She's about eight or nine years old and really thin. It looked like she had a braid in the front of her hair, but I'm not sure since it may have just been a dirty tangle. Do you know anything about her?"

Not knowing who I was, the woman frowned at me. "Why do you want to know, stranger? You related to her or something?"

"No, she just looked like she could use a good meal. Here's 20 septims. Can you see that she gets fed for the next few days until I return?"

The innkeeper paused and looked me over from head to toe. "Four days, assuming she comes around. I think the kid hangs around up around the temple, begging for coin, during the day, and she comes here most evenings for at least a little while. Carlotta in the marketplace gives her a discount on anything getting old—that she pretends is getting old, anyway—at the end of the day, and I occasionally give her some warm soup if I have any left over." She'd already secreted away the little bag without me seeing when she said, "I'll get with Carlotta and her daughter and we'll see if we can get some solid, hot grub in the kid."

"Thank you. If I'm a day or two longer, please keep feeding her. I'll pay you the balance when I get back."

The innkeeper gave me another stern look. "I don't usually extend credit because too many of your type don't ever come back." She paused again, staring at me as if looking into my soul, before continuing. "Don't let me down, son. And don't you dare ever tell anyone."

~ESV~


	2. Arc 1—A Face in the Crowd—Chapter 2

It was a week later when I walked back into The Bannered Mare, with Lydia trailing behind.

The innkeeper's eyes widened when she saw me. They widened further when I pulled out a coin purse.

Whispering to me, she said, "Great gods! I'd given up hope on ever seeing my money. Or you again, either, for that matter."

Lydia, who was keeping a close eye on the other patrons in case any decided to make a move on me, laughed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said, as much to my housecarl as to the innkeeper.

"I'm Hulda, and I've heard they're calling you the Dragonborn. Oh, and it's fifteen more septims that you owe me."

I think I surprised the woman when I shoved the whole purse across the counter to her. "There are 100 septims in there; the fifteen I already owe you and the rest to keep feeding the girl until I return again in about a week or so. I want you to let her sleep inside, too. She doesn't need to take a room from a regular paying customer, I'm sure, but it's cold outside—give her a blanket and let her sleep in the cellar or under the counter or wherever you have space for someone as small as she is. Will that work?"

Hulda, who was probably about the same age as my mother would have been if she'd still lived, gave a little smile. "Yeah, I'll take care of it, Dragonborn. You'd better come back though. I'd really hate to let her stay inside for a week and then have to pitch her back outside again if you get yourself killed and don't return."

"Yeah, I'd really hate that, too. For all three of us."

~ESV~

We'd made our way north into The Pale when we finally stopped to camp for the night as a thunderstorm approached. Not wishing to attract bandits, beasts, or whatever other fearsome creatures might be looking for the same shelter we'd just found, we didn't make a fire. Instead, Lydia and I sat close together under the rock outcropping with a bearskin wrapped around us to preserve as much of our body heat as we could while we ate bread and dried horker jerky, shared a bottle of Alto wine, and tried to stay dry. I think my housecarl ended up drinking more of the wine than I, and with her somewhat smaller build, it worked to loosen her tongue more than I'd seen in our time together to date.

"Thane, why are you taking interest in that girl? You don't actually know her after all, do you? Is she a distant cousin...or perhaps your secret love child?"

I almost spewed the drink of wine I'd just taken, causing Lydia to laugh lightly. A flash of lightning briefly exposed the rivulets of wine that had escaped from the corners of my mouth, so she used something to dab my mouth and short beard. I wasn't sure how effective it was in the darkness that swept back over us between flashes, but when the next burst came, she dabbed no more. Instead, she pursued her question. "Well? You probably have children all over Skyrim, right?"

"No, afraid not," I replied with a chuckle. "I haven't been here. My mother and little sis died in the plague that hit our village when I was nine, and our village and my father were never the same."

She gave my arm a squeeze as she said, "I'm sorry." Unlike her usual attitude, there seemed to be real compassion in her voice.

"It's okay; it was a long time ago. We ended up leaving the next year, heading south to Cyrodiil where my dad hoped to find work and a sense of solace."

"Did he?"

"I don't think he ever found the second, but we were lucky on the first. He started working as a caravan guard traveling the province, with me going along to take care of the animals and do odd work on the trip. There weren't that many caravans, though, and they were very intermittent, so we took whatever jobs were available, as miners, a smith and his assistant, and later, when I was older, occasionally as carters, too. We were good workers, so finding work usually wasn't very hard, though we did have to move around a lot."

"That doesn't sound bad compared to the situation here while you were gone. And everything that's happened recently. Why on Nirn would you come back to our screwed up little mess we call Skyrim?"

"It's home. And my father died about a year ago in Bravil."

She gave my arm another comforting squeeze but said nothing this time. She seemed to be waiting for me to continue, so I did. "I would have walked out then, but I stayed in that hellhole for a while because of a young lady. We'd grown close...very close...in our time together—"

"Ah, so your kids are in Cyrodiil."

I laughed. "No, no kids. Anywhere. Like I said, Dre and I were close, but something was—I don't know—off with her? Or maybe off in the way she saw herself with me. Or maybe it was just me? I don't know, but she just could never get completely comfortable with our relationship. Though she did seem to really enjoy it at least part of the time when we were together."

"Really? Hmm, I may have to keep that in mind someday."

"Oh, stop teasing," I replied with a chuckle before pausing to watch the falling rain during the frequent flashes of lightning. With a sigh, I decided to tell her the rest. "When Dre pushed me away yet again, I decided that was the last time. I collected my wages and left Bravil, heading north to the Imperial City, then on to Cheydinhal and finally to Bruma. This time, I couldn't find good work in any of them, so I finally decided to head home."

"What did you plan to do when you got here?"

"Start over. Maybe finish my training and open a blacksmith shop or perhaps a livery stable. Find a nice girl, settle down, and have a family. I don't know beyond that, but walking into an Imperial dragnet and into the midst of a civil war sure weren't parts of the plan. Taking up arms was pretty low on my wish list, believe me. And I could never have conceived of being named the bloody 'Dragonborn' or even thane, for that matter."

"Yet here we are, Thane," she said with a yawn. "Perhaps you couldn't dream of it, but you couldn't stop it from happening either."

With the lightning finally starting to move on but with a light rain continuing, she yawned again, forcefully this time, and nestled closer against me. Her hand came up to my cheek and rubbed it and my short beard.

"I've really got to get you a razor. Mmm. Good night, Thane. Wake me in a couple of hours and I'll take a turn standing watch." Her head rested against my shoulder and she was out.

Knowing it would be many hours before she awoke, I whispered, "Good night, Lydia."

~ESV~

The mission was a complete bust, with some foolish prankster having removed the item we'd been dispatched by the old Greybeards to retrieve. The idiot even left my nickname on a note with the location where I could come to retrieve it. It was an obvious trap if there ever was one, so I crumpled up the note and shoved it in my pack.

Due to the frequent rains and an unannounced nighttime visit from what we guessed, based on a massive paw print, was a cave bear, our supplies were running low. Lydia suggested that we stop in the nearby town of Morthal to sell some loot and make some purchases before heading back to Whiterun.

Having never been there before, it seemed to be a dreary little town when we entered and it got worse from there. They didn't have a real store or a blacksmith shop, so we'd have to carry everything back to Whiterun. Lydia's attitude seemed to get worse than usual, too. Then, when we stopped by Highmoon Hall, the local jarl's hall, there were several people outside arguing about the woman and her administration. Not knowing the issues and not wishing to get into a fight with the locals, we sidestepped them and headed for the door to the hall.

When we were inside to pay our respects, I soon learned that the complainers might have a point. The jarl was a most depressing woman who seemed to have visions about the future. Personally, I didn't usually put much stock in such things; my father had always told me that fortune tellers could weave very elaborate predictions of what was to come out of cards, bones or entrails, or even, in desperate times, tea leaves or coffee grounds…as long as the person receiving the prediction kept giving little hints the fortuneteller could use to keep the prediction believable and the person receiving the reading could keep a steady stream of money flowing to the teller.

In the jarl's case, she didn't take money, which made me wonder. In fact, she claimed her ability to be a gift from the Divines. As doubtful as I was that they would wish to share such a gift or, if they did, if a gift it would even truly be, I didn't argue the point.

It was a result of her mentioning "gift" that made me realize that I had no gift or tribute to give her and my "The dragons are coming!" routine from Whiterun wouldn't work any more since word about them had spread over the land like wildfire. Therefore, since this was my first visit to her town, I took the alternate tact of offering a service. I figured she'd have me stand guard duty for a day, let me chop some firewood, or maybe track down our cave bear visitor or some other predator eating the livestock in the area. Jarls wanted the business and the septims that adventurers brought, so they tended not to make such services too onerous.

It was almost creepy how the woman sat staring at me for a minute, then two, before a strange look came over her face. "I sense...something...yes, something about you. Perhaps there is a way you can provide a service to pay your respects."

~ESV~

_I stand up from my efforts and stretch before moving back over to the window. There is so much to say, but so little time left to record it. I would much prefer to stand here and watch the birds and the waves below, but the appointed time is coming sooner than I'd like._

_I retake my seat and refocus my thoughts._

~ESV

The jarl's little problem ended up being more substantial than I anticipated, but Lydia and I solved it for her. When we reported back to her, the woman's initial aloof and off-putting manner had been completely replaced by one of being quite friendly. At least she was to me; as a servant, she paid Lydia no attention all. I felt sorry for my housecarl as the jarl directed all of her praise at me despite the fact that Lydia had done more of the work than I had. The jarl also invited me to eat dinner in her hall that evening with her, her family, and her advisors. Since we were leaving the next morning and since it would be a free meal and would save us some coins, I gladly accepted despite Lydia being overlooked. I had an idea of how I might make it up to her.

After cleaning up as well as I could that evening, I was prepared to go but Lydia told me to stop. She had me sit as she pulled out a new straightrazor that I later learned she'd purchased that afternoon from the local apothecary. She had me lean back and remain still while she proceeded to shave off my short beard and trim my mustache. "There! You look much more presentable."

Not sure if I liked it, I gave Lydia my thanks none-the-less, and handed her some septims for her meal and a bottle of wine I'd found and secreted away during our recent adventures. Its quality wasn't nearly good enough for the jarl, but it would be fine for Lydia; she accepted it with a smile and her thanks. The sun was setting when, clean-shaven, I headed back to the jarl's hall.

After meeting more of the jarl's advisors, I was quite surprised to find myself seated next to a very pretty but rather melancholic young woman in her early twenties. She was the jarl's daughter and the source of her gloom was apparently her duty to care for her much younger brother. The boy was abundantly blessed (or perhaps cursed?) with his mother's gift, which the young woman shared to a much lesser degree. She was absolutely delightful when I was able to divert her attention to other matters, but a turn of her head toward her little brother brought reality crashing back down on her shoulders. She finally asked to be excused to go put the boy to bed, but she returned a short time later as we diners were rising from our seats at the table.

"Would you like to walk with me?"

I couldn't believe my ears. "I'd be delighted, my lady," I said, giving her the crook of my arm.

From the hall, we walked north to the bridge where, under the light of Tamriel's twin moons, we talked while occasionally trying to skip rocks on the river. Next, we made our way around the docks along the river inlet, chatting as we went. The responsibility that seemed to weigh so heavily on her melted away slowly, but she was laughing and enjoying herself when we returned to Highmoon Hall a short time later.

She was the jarl's daughter, but I was quite taken with her, so I summoned the courage to kiss her hand when I said goodnight. The guards by the door looked ready to step in and do bodily damage to me at that, but she surprised them and me even more by brushing my smooth cheek lightly with her lips, telling me goodnight, and going inside.

Where the guards had initially looked at me with suspicion, her kiss in return caused them to glare at me with hatred in their eyes. Seeing that and being in a good mood, I couldn't resist giving them a grin and saying, "It is a good night, gentlemen. A really good night. Enjoy your guard duty." I turned away from their protests and headed for the inn.

I'd made it just a short distance down the street when I heard a sound in the shadows. I'd sensed something a couple of times during our walk, but had never been able to catch sight of anything, so I'd figured it must have been muskrat or perhaps a skeever. My hand was on my dagger, ready to draw, when she stepped out of the shadows, matter-of-factly, and walked up to me, taking her place by my side as we approached the inn.

Handing me the still unopened bottle of wine, Lydia said, "Thane, you had a nice walk."

I noticed that the way she said it and the way she was looking at me, it wasn't a question.

~ESV~


	3. Arc 1—A Face in the Crowd—Chapter 3

When we walked through the gate to Whiterun again on the seventh day after our departure from the city, I wasn't happy in the least. Lydia's snide harping, which had returned with a vengeance on the morning of our departure from Morthal (following a quick stop at the jarl's hall), hadn't helped. Her occasional teasing about the "nice walk" had made it even worse. I feel bad about it now but giving her an extra set of armor and a massive battle axe to carry caused her to fall a few steps behind me, where I was spared from having to listen to her, at least some of the time.

The weight of our backpacks and what we were carrying in hand also contributed to my own foul mood. The packs were heavy, full-to-bursting with weapons and armor that we'd taken from our fallen enemies on our journey, and we each had several sacks of other items tied on the outside. Therefore, dead-tired, we stopped to see the blacksmiths just inside the city gate.

Ulf War-Bear bought most of the better stuff in the shop, where, when not entertaining customers, he cleaned, polished, and re-laced their wares to make them more presentable for sale. Outside, his wife (and their head blacksmith), Adrianne, looked over the rest and bought most of it, saying she could do minor repairs and still sell it at a profit. She even helped me repair my armor, made some more fit adjustments to it, and then assisted Lydia with hers.

The smarmy shop owner next to the market on the other end of Gate Street—I'm sorry, I don't even remember his name—helped improve our resources while further lightening our packs and emptying most of the sacks. Finally, we stopped at the local alchemist's shop, where the nice lady sold me a potion to cure my case of the rattles that I hadn't even known I had (Grandson, as a special aside, it turns out that a second opinion in such cases may be a very wise idea). We also swapped several potions we'd found for a couple of her special healing brews.

With our packs so much lighter, Lydia's attitude improved. She even quit repeating her usual comment about being sworn to carry my burdens for a little while after that. However, she became inquisitive when I said we had to make a quick stop at the Temple of the Dead Tree, which was, at that time, a popular nickname for Kynareth's local establishment.

"Why, Thane?"

"Just need to make a delivery. Won't take but a moment. You can stay out here and look at this wonderful reminder of why trees should never be allowed to get too big. They're next to impossible to remove when they finally die."

It took me longer inside than expected, leading Lydia to give me a frown when I returned. "Having the healer take a look at that nasty chafing issue?"

"Nooo...but she did spend considerable time trying to talk me into fixing the bloody tree. I told her I'd love to help, but charity work, even for one of the Divines, isn't exactly high on my priority list right now."

"So what is, Thane? What's next?"

As I started walking down the steps toward the marketplace, I nodded toward The Bannered Mare. "I've got to go check on our girl."

"Your girl, Thane. Your charity. As much as you're spending on her, you might as well adopt the kid."

"Yeah, right."

~ESV~

Hulda said the little girl was eating better, but that she was still begging for money and that she refused to sleep inside the inn. "She's frightened and confused but I think she just doesn't want to be any more beholden to anyone than she already is. Have you said something to scare her?" There was a touch of concern bordering on anger in her expression.

I shook my head in reply. "No, Hulda, I haven't even seen her since that time in the marketplace and she isn't beholden to me in the least. I'm just trying to keep from having nightmares of seeing her starve to death."

She forced a smile, apparently relieved that I might not be some evil fiend after all, so I switched to my other reason for being there.

"Speaking of death, Lydia suggested that I check with you on any bounty work that might be available. Got anything like that?"

"Yeah. The guards drop off bounty letters from time to time if there are bandits, giants, trolls, or such causing trouble. The jarl pays to have them taken care of."

"Lydia said the jarl usually specifies 'dead' but occasionally allows for a 'dead or alive' to come through. Got any of the dead or alive type?"

"Sorry, these are all the 'kill the bandit' type. The jarl usually prefers them dead so he doesn't have to feed or house them. That way, they don't come back later to cause him problems again, either. You have a problem with that?"

"No, not at all. It's just me. While I don't mind tracking them down and bringing them back, I'm just not sure I want to be responsible for dispensing the jarl's justice."

She gave me a frown, as if I was being silly. "Well, if you accept one of these, that's what you'll be getting paid for. The jarl's already pronounced them guilty, so all you're doing is carrying out the sentence. You still don't look happy about it."

I sighed. "I got caught in one of those deals a little while back when I was innocent and almost went to the block before the sentence was 'overturned.' Just not sure if I feel comfortable facing guys who might be innocent like me."

"Believe me, Dragonborn, if they're in this stack, they're guilty and there won't be any sentences overturned. You want one or not?"

Another sigh. "Yeah. Give me one."

She hesitated. "So...are you going to tell me to keep feeding the urchin while you go do this?"

A little bag of coins already palmed in my hand moved forward to hers as I nodded.

It was her turn to sigh. "That's what I figured. Let's see, I think there might be something here that would be up your alley."

Reaching under the counter, she retrieved several papers in a stack, sorted through them, and finally pulled one out of the middle. "Here's one you might be able to handle without risking my coin purse...or my conscience."

~ESV~

The bandits were far tougher than Hulda or I had imagined, and if not for Lydia, I wouldn't be here to record this tale. The battleaxe clove the top edge of my shield, driving it back where the front of the blade cut deep into my arm, just below my armor. In addition to paralyzing my arm, the blow caused me to I stagger backward and I would have been at the bandit lord's mercy if not for Lydia stepping in from the side and driving her sword into him before bashing him with her shield. Having the larger axe in his hands with the blade stuck in my shield, this put him at a great disadvantage; Lydia dispatched him with another thrust and twist of her weapon.

"Thane!" she cried as she dropped to her knees beside me. I'd already lost a lot of blood in the fight even before the latest wound, so the world was starting to growing dim as she grabbed me and clamped a hand on my arm. "Don't you die on me, you son-of-a-horker. Don't...you...die!"

She was pressing something to my lips at about that point, and the gentle, soothing sensation that followed caused the pain to lessen. Somehow, I realized that she was wasting one of our two precious healing potions, so I tried to raise my hand to stop her from her foolishness, but she swatted it away. She then poured the other one in my mouth, and massaging my throat to make me swallow it, too. I was feeling significantly better, though exhausted, when she told me just moments later to sleep. I don't know why I remember it so clearly considering what had just happened, but as I was drifting off, I felt her rub my cheek and say, "I like your razor."

~ESV~

Between the potions and a good night's sleep, I was able to get up the next morning rather than finding myself in Sovngarde or somewhere far less desirable. As such, I decided to skip my first thought of chastising Lydia for wasting our potions, and immediately decided that we would have to purchase more of those when we returned to town.

After thanking her for saving me, I found that Lydia had also repaired my armor as well as she could and had collected everything of any possible value in the bandits' lair. We went through it together, upgraded a few pieces of our equipment, and then selected almost exactly what she'd predicted would likely be most valuable for sale based on its weight. We hid the rest away in hopes that we might return for more of the loot in a couple of days.

That didn't happen, but between selling our haul and the bounty for the bandits, we earned a decent amount. I tried to give Lydia a share, but she refused, saying it was her duty to serve me, not get rich off of me. I felt bad that she refused but far worse that she felt our little haul was enough to make her rich.

Hulda gave me another bounty paper from her stack as I pushed more coins across the counter to her. She shook her head and sent half back my way. "The child doesn't eat that much and you're already paid up over a week ahead anyway. I better see you back here in a few days, Dragonborn."

~ESV~

Two nights later, Lydia and I were practically exhausted. It had been a long and bloody but successful day so we took turns cleaning up in the creek while the other stood guard before finding shelter in an abandoned shack. After a meal consisting of some food we'd found in the late bandits' lair, I caught Lydia studying me.

"Okay, what is it? Did I spill something on my shirt?"

She was slow to reply as her eyes focused on my armor. "No-oo. Not that I see. Of course with your armor covering it…"

"Then what's wrong?"

"I just don't understand you, Thane. This afternoon, when that bandit yielded, you seemed almost relieved to accept his surrender. Well, 'till he pulled the knife on you, anyway. You were lucky he didn't gut you from bottom to top, by the way. Don't you know that bandits never really yield?"

"Yeah, I figured it was probably a trick, but I had to give him a chance in case he was telling the truth."

"Why? Even if you'd tied him up and marched him all the way back to Whiterun, the jarl would have gotten rid of him anyway."

"Probably so, but then it would have been the jarl's doing, serving his justice, and not me having to kill him. Killing's dirty, messy business and I prefer to avoid it when I can. Why do you think I wanted to be a blacksmith rather than a soldier or guard?"

"Gods' bones! You're the bloody Dragonborn and you've killed, what? Three dragons, more bandits than I can count, and those creepy draugr things? And you don't like to kill?"

"Just two dragons. You can't count the first one since it would have eaten me whole if Irileth and the guards hadn't taken it out. As for liking it, no. While I'm finding that I'm getting better at it, it's not something I enjoy. I'll do it, whatever it takes, in fact, to protect myself or you or someone else that I care about, for that matter, but I don't have to enjoy it. Not one bit."

"Well, when you put it that way...I guess I see what you mean. It's not like I really enjoy it either, but it's what I do, so I've never thought about it."

"Guess that's the difference, Lydia. Until recently, I didn't have to do it, so when I killed that first man while escaping from Helgen, it came crashing down on me."

She slowly nodded, as if she understood.

~ESV~

_I pause in my writing, thinking of the rest of that evening. Our discussion had strayed into family and love and feelings. It went much deeper than I intended, leading me to finally realize, despite how obvious it must have been, that Lydia had been quite jealous of that young woman in Morthal ever since that night, even though I didn't know how I felt about her._

_When Lydia kissed me, it came as a surprise to me; it was far more passionate than anything I'd ever received from Dreanna, but like those kisses with Dre, it was one-sided. This time, though, it was Lydia who was the hungry one and I was the hesitant. Having grown to think of Lydia as a sister-in-arms, or, even closer, as a sister, I apologized to her and pulled away for it was at that moment I understood for the first time that I would do whatever it took to see the young lady in Morthal again._

~ESV~

This trip ended up going better than the last, and I came out with a much better bow than my old one. Lydia liked the war axe that I sharpened for her, too. We stopped at Adrianne and the War-Bear's shop on the way into town and sold them almost everything we'd taken on our trip.

It was when Adrianne was doing a little repair on my cuirass that she stopped for a moment and wiped her grimy brow. She looked up at me and asked, "Have you thought about buying a house here in town? The one next to our shop's been empty for a good while. You might talk to my dad about it up at the castle."

"Your dad mentioned that one was available for purchase, but he didn't say where. I may ask him about it."

"Good luck, if you do, and don't let him cheat you on the price. The roof needs some repairs, and there's a hole in that back corner where skeevers can get in. Make him knock off a few hundred septims and I'll get Ulf to give you a good deal on getting them fixed."

~ESV~

It took another bounty trip before I could afford the little house and a bit of furniture, and then some more coins to get War-Bear to repair the roof.

I fixed the hole in the wall myself while Lydia took it on herself to stand guard to protect me, presumably from dragons, skeevers, or the happy little imps that made a habit of tearing through Whiterun's streets amid near constant chattering and frequent raucous laughter.

Adrianne and Ulf came over that evening with an apple pie—I had no idea how the woman had time to make it—and we shared great pie and excellent company. Lydia started to retire to her room, but she stayed at my request and seemed to enjoy herself with our company, the pie, and a bottle of Surilie Brothers that I opened for our guests. Later that evening, she even asked Adrianne if she could teach her how to make it sometime. Adrianne laughed and looked to her husband. "Honey, can you show her? My smelter is the only oven I know how to use."

After the smiths left, I locked the front door and set a small alarm consisting of a little bell on a string. I hoped it would ring if someone tried to break in on us while we slept. I was about to head upstairs when I noticed Lydia looking into the little storage room downstairs.

"What's wrong, Lydia. Did you find another hole in the wall?"

"No, nothing like that. I just noticed that you might have room for an extra bed or two in there. A child-sized one, at least. If you're interested. Good night, Thane."

~ESV~

It was the next morning when a knock came at the door. I hadn't slept well, so I was yawning as I opened the door to find a thin and dusty young man holding a sealed letter out to me.

"Courier from Riverwood, Dragonborn. I had to check the palace to find you, so sorry it's later than planned."

The young man received a few septims for his efforts and I closed the door. Using my dagger, I pried up the wax seal, observing that it hadn't been disturbed. I read through it twice with Lydia watching me. I nodded and she came over to have a look. She read it aloud with an appropriate level of snarkiness that wasn't far removed from her usual demeanor.

_"Did you not find my message? Or are you not really who it is claimed? If you truly are the Dragonborn and if you care in even the least for our land, come to the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood and request the attic room. Someone will contact you there."_

I was chuckling at her delivery when she looked at me with an expression of concern. "You told me earlier, Thane, that it was an obvious trap, but now you look as if you're going to put your head in the noose anyway. Please tell me I'm wrong."

"No, Lydia, not wrong, but not exactly right either. Most people who bait traps try to set them so they won't be obvious. They don't usually beg as if they're desperate. This may actually be real, so I...I'm going. But I want you there as backup in case I'm wrong."

She sighed, dramatically, and said, "I'm sworn to—"

"I know! I know! Listen, I'll pack our things and speak with Ulf and Adrianne about watching the house. While I'm doing that, please run this up to Hulda, the innkeeper at The Bannered Mare. Tell her we'll be back soon."

~ESV~


	4. Arc 1—A Face in the Crowd—Chapter 4

It was our longest trip to date, ten days. On returning, we entered the city gate as the twilight faded in the west.

Adrianne was closing down her shop for the night when she saw the tired and extremely dusty pair trudging up to her. We asked if she still had time to transact one more deal that evening. She agreed, reluctantly, but then I think she turned bright red when she finally realized it was us a few moments later. Neither of us was wearing the same armor we'd been wearing when we left town.

After a bath and a good night's sleep, it was late the next morning when I sat down on the bench under the big dead tree in front of the temple. I'd picked up a couple of books in my travels, so one was open in my hands and I was reading slowly as I kept watch around me.

With no helmet to block my view, I saw her approaching, cautiously, out of the corner of my eye. She stopped about six feet away and cleared her throat.

"Mister? Thank you for the apple."

I smiled and looked over at her. "You're quite welcome; it was the least I could do. Besides, you looked like you needed it more than I did."

"Are you the one who's been helping me with Miss Hulda and Mila's mom?"

"Hmm? What's that about?"

"Oh, please don't tease me. Are you?"

"Yes, dear."

"Oh, thank you! May the Divines bless you always." She paused as she looked at me questioningly before finally getting up the courage to ask, "Why are you helping me, though?"

I avoided the urge to laugh at her little expression, and decided that I'd give it to her straight.

"People need help sometimes, and somebody has to do it or it won't get done. I found that out recently in my own line of work when I tried really hard to put off doing what needed to be done with that. It turned out that my delay hurt some people and now I'm going to have to go away again soon to keep a lot more people from getting hurt or maybe even killed. Say, do you want to have a seat? I'm straining my neck looking up at you."

"I not that tall," she said as she sat down on the bench with a huff. She folded her arms defensively.

I crossed mine in a decent imitation of her display, giving a little huff similar to her own. She resisted a smile at first and then tried, unsuccessfully, to stop a giggle.

"Okay, now that we have that out of the way, tell me, child, why are you begging? Why do you need help anyway?"

Sadness swept back over her face. "It's what my friend told me to do. Well, other than you...and Miss Hulda...and Mila's mom, he's the only one who's been nice to me since..."

"It's okay, dear. Take your time. What happened?"

"Since my mama died. My aunt and uncle took over our farm after that; they kicked me out since they said I wasn't good for anything. I didn't know where to go, but I ended up here and now I don't know what to do next. I miss my mama so much..." Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Anger was rising within me, but I knew I had to control it for the good of the girl. I looked forward to dealing with those two later, but for now, she was more important than anything, so I paused for a few moments to keep from sounding upset when I spoke.

"First, child, it's okay to be sad. You've been through a lot, so you can cry if you wish. Your mother, on the other hand, is happy in Sovngarde, though I'm sure she misses you. A lot."

"But Mama said only valiant people go to Sovngarde."

I hadn't expected that, so formulating what I hoped would be the right reply took a few moments. "That's true. But I know of few people more valiant than a mother who sacrifices and does all she can for her child. I'd bet anything your mother was like that. Right?"

She sniffled but gave me a little smile as she nodded.

"Next, you said your aunt and uncle said some bad things. I want you to listen and listen closely. You, dear, are still a child. Don't ever believe anyone who tells a child they're not good for anything. Children need time to grow into whatever it is that they're good at."

She gave this some thought. She looked at me as if studying me for a moment before asking, "What about you? What are you good at?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure. Ask me again when I finish growing up."

This got another giggle. We were making progress.

"So, where's your farm? Can you tell me that?"

"It's outside of Whiterun. Mama used to tell people that it was on the road to Markarth."

"Is it far?"

"A few miles, I think. Mila's mom knows. She used to buy some of Mama's vegetables."

"Okay, thanks. I have to go away for awhile, but until then, here's what we're I think we should do."

I went over my idea and she seemed to understand and agree to it. She thanked me and, smiling, ran off to find her friends Mila and Lars.

It was only when I stood up to leave that I realized I'd forgotten to ask her name.

~ESV~

Over a month passed before we returned, making a little detour on our journey back by way of the Markarth road. I'd been looking forward to meeting the little girl's evil aunt and uncle. I was more battle-hardened as a result of our journey, and, likewise, my heart had grown hard toward them. In fact, a number of scenarios had played out in my mind during our adventures of how I'd make them pay, but none were to come to pass. The farmhouses and fields in the area had been burned to the ground by a dragon. The few bones that we found were quickly buried and we made the rest of our journey to Whiterun, arriving after dark.

Entering the house, it was pitch black, so Lydia lit a lamp while I stowed our packs; we were so tired we figured we would unload the next morning. Putting a finger to my lips, I took the lamp and tiptoed upstairs to peek into my bedroom. Holding the lamp high, I could see a little mop of brown hair just visible above the top edge of the covers.

Lydia sighed quietly and shook her head. When the door was closed, she whispered with a look of concern, "You let her stay here while we were gone?"

"Yeah, with Adrianne checking in on her from time to time. At least she said she would."

Lydia laughed and shook her head. "I think you're going to have to reconsider the use of the storage room downstairs." Smiling, she added, "I think I may have told you that you might fit a bed in there?"

~ESV~

_"Beloved? Are you in here?" The knock and my wife's voice interrupt my writing and my thoughts._

_"Yes, dear. Come in." I put down my quill and stand up to meet her, taking her in my arms and kissing her once more as I've done so many times and so happily over our nearly twenty years together. When I don't seem interested in stopping, she gently pushes me away._

_"Now, now, Aerik, enough of that. The jarls will be arriving soon for the meeting and our grandson's birthday party."_

_"Imagine that. Arranging for the annual gathering of the jarls to be held on our grandson's birthday. How so like your mother. To ruin a perfectly good party by inviting all of them." I grin at her._

_She grins back. "Technically, my husband—since I'm sure you don't remember it—Andres' birthday isn't until day after tomorrow, but Samor and Lucia agreed to allow us to celebrate it tonight and again with just our family on Loredas. And you're quite correct about my mother. She was ever and always watchful of anything that could be used to her advantage with the other jarls, including her gift. How else do you think she took advantage of your great popularity among our people to have me elected High Queen?"_

_Teasingly, I ask, "Do you think that my having declined the kingship had anything to do with that?"_

_"Of course, my love, it had everything to do with it. She knew you well enough by then to know that you'd never, ever, accept it. Even if she hadn't seen it in her vision, she knew that by offering me as a substitute with you by my side as my consort, the other jarls would get most of what they wanted and have no choice but to accept me." She gives me that endearing, but occasionally frustrating, cock of her head that I get when she knows she's right before continuing. "She knew, too, that she'd trained me well enough that once I had the job, you wouldn't have to step in and take over like most of them expected." She pats my cheek and gives me a soft kiss on the lips. "Mother was no fool, my love, and I hope you'll agree that she and my father didn't raise one either."_

_"Of course not, my dear, but they sure raised a beauty." Seeing that she'd closed the door on entering and that we are alone, I slide my hands down and give her behind a squeeze, causing her eyes to widen and her mouth to drop open as she bobs up on her tiptoes._

_"Aerik Dovahkiin! You keep..." Glancing back at the door of my office and seeing it still closed, she grins, and says, "Well, you keep that for later tonight and we'll pick up then." Escaping my embrace, she kisses me once more then moves to the door. "Hurry up, my love, and come on down."_

_"Yes, my Queen. I have just a few more lines and I'll be right down."_

_Turning back to the page, I think of the next line, of how I'd planned to sleep on the floor so little Lucia could remain warm and cozy in my bed, but how Lydia would not hear of it. We shared her bed and our body heat that night, platonically as always, but perhaps my daughter—and my dear wife—would prefer that little tidbit be left out of my grandson's present. Therefore, I sit thinking for a little while before finally dipping the quill back in the inkwell. There is so much more to say, and so little time before the jarls arrive._

~ESV~

Grandson, I adopted your mother the very next day after speaking to the jarl's steward about it and cleaning out the storage room. I sent Lydia to purchase some furniture, some clothes, and a little doll for her while I was doing it.

When I asked her that evening if she'd consider becoming my daughter, I'm not sure which of us was happiest, her for hearing my question, or me for hearing her say "Yes!" and calling me "Pa" for the very first time.

~ESV~

_Another knock on the door, coming even sooner than expected, causes me to look up and say, "Enter."_

_The captain of the guard enters. As one of my oldest friends and since most of the streaks of gray in her hair can probably be rightly attributed to me, I am forced to forgive the look of good-humored derision that she gives me for not only not being ready but not even having finished writing._

_"Thane, my Lady the Queen, sends me with word that, if you haven't done so already, you are to put down that letter at once and venture downstairs to the main hall to await our guests, the jarls, and their retinues. Sam, Lady Lucia, little Master Andres, and the rest of your family have already joined her and they eagerly await your arrival."_

_"And Vilkas and your boys? Are they in attendance?"_

_"Of course, Thane." She smiles. "Unlike some, when have you ever known my dear husband to be late?"_

_"Alright, alright," I grouse. "Give me a minute."_

_Huffing but trying to avoid laughing, I put on my doublet, button it, and straighten my outfit to her approving nod. My fingers run through my hair to tidy it, too, and I then rub my clean-shaven face. I spot her grin at that, too. Perhaps it has to do with the condition he once had, but her husband has always been more enamored with his short stubble than with the straightrazor she gave him some time after I introduced them._

_Fighting off my own grin at that thought, I turn to the stack of books and papers on the desk where I've been working._

_"Uh, Captain, would you mind helping me carry all of this downstairs?"_

_She rolls her eyes at me. "Thane, forever am I sworn to carry your burdens."_

_Unable to control the urge, I break down and give her a smile before saying, "Yes, dear friend. I know."_

**End of Arc 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading this story; I hope you've enjoyed it. If so, please let me know with your reviews, comments, favorites, or follows or whatever AO3 calls them.
> 
> Many thanks, too, to all those who have already favorited and followed the story or left a review. I really appreciate that. While currently marked as 4 of 4 chapters (i.e., complete), I'm currently working on a second, related arc that I hope to premiere before too long. 
> 
> Finally, most have probably noticed but I must admit that this story was written with the Dovahkiin and all of the people of Skyrim having free will with respect to their romantic interests (i.e., not being limited to only those possible spouses in the game). The few lines of in-game dialogue have been altered slightly due to the Dovahkiin's memory those 20-something years later, to avoid possible copyright issues, and to better reflect the slightly altered events in this story. Thank you for your understanding on me taking the literary license with this.


	5. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arc 2 Summary: The Dovahkiin remembers his efforts to become a good father to and provider for his newly adopted daughter as he struggled with his love life. In the midst of all of this, he really had no interest at all in vampires. At least, he didn't until one fateful day...

Arc 2—Chapter 1:

_Winter comes to the north of Skyrim like a heavy blanket being dropped from above, covering our land with snow in what seems like just minutes. The thick mass then usually sticks around for many months until the spring thaws. The rare sunny day that melts some small part of the snow is soon made up for by days like today, when the flakes drift down from the sky in endless ranks. While many fellow Nords and some of our southern brethern are doubtless out and about in the lousy weather today, I'm sitting in my office writing the draft of a letter for my dear Idgrod._

_My wife and queen gave me a list of nine items that she wants covered in the letter to the new Emperor, with me being responsible for putting her initial thoughts into a rough draft. She assured me that she would be pleased to have my assistance and would only make minor changes as needed, but I've heard that story before. In actuality, she'll shake her head as she reads my clumsy and all-too-informal attempt at expressing her thoughts, and then go back through my version with that Dwemer styllus from the matching set our friend Calcelmo gave us for our wedding. She'll dip the tip in her little pot of blood-red ink and proceed to mark up my letter until it reminds me of a snow-covered snowberry bush, with far more of the red berries showing through the snow than the dark leaves, my initial text, supporting them._

_Having gifted my own styllus to our oldest son on his departure for the College of Winterhold, I draw Bloodthorn, my constant companion of many years, and sharpen the tip of my quill. I have just dipped the new point into my inkwell in order to start the last paragraph of my draft when a strange sound interrupts my thoughts._

_tud boomf..._

_tud boomf..._

_tud boomf..._

_tud boomf..._

_One can only listen to a strange and irritating sound so many times before one is overcome with the urge to investigate and discover its source. I soon reach that point as I pause to listen since no words are flowing from my pen. A drop of ink pools on my quill as a a result and drops off onto my draft. With a curse, I sigh as I wipe the tip and rise from my seat. I go to the door to my office and crack it open to hear._

_TUD BOOMF pah._

_TUD BOOMF pah._

_The sound is coming from just down the hall, down the stair._

_TUD BOOMF pah._

_TUD BOOMF bomp bomp._

_Giggles fill the air, soon followed by the sound once more._

_TUD BOOMF pah._

_TUD BOOMF pah._

_Using the skills I learned many years earlier, I silently slip out of my office, move the few feet down the hall to the top of the stair. Peeking over the edge, I smile as I see my little triumvarate sitting on the bottom tread before the landing where the stair turns. With their backs to me, they are bouncing the hard Khajiiti ball on the landing, off the far wall, and, when successful, back into their hands._

_My youngest son, Aern, age 8-1/2, bounces the ball again and misses it on its return, leading to more giggles as his minutes-older twin sister, Aerica, more deftly recovers it. She hands it over to their older nephew, Andres, now almost 9-1/2, who bounces the ball off the floor, against the wall, and then back into his hands._

_Needing to finish the draft by Idgrod's deadline, I shake my head with a smile and slip back into my office, closing the door without a peep. The draft is completed in a matter of minutes, but all the while the irrascible sound of that ball continues to grate on my nerves._

_tud boomf..._

_A pause and what might be more giggling..._

_tud boomf..._

_I realize there's one other point that should be made, so I add another paragraph for my wife's consideration. By the time I finish, the sound is driving me crazy. One or two rounds is understandable, twenty is tiresome, but the number that they have just reached, whatever it is, is mindnumbing._

_With my quill pen cleaned once more and back in its holder, I open the door and step out into the hall, this time not trying to maintain silence. The sound immediately changes from that of a seemingly eternally bouncing ball to three young children charging up the stairs into my arms._

_"Daddy!" shout the twins, almost in unison._

_"Grandpa!"_

_"So what are you three doing up here?"_

_"Mommy wouldn't let us go outside because of the snow."_

_"Now you see why your mommy was elected High Queen. She's a very smart woman."_

_"Oh, Daddy!"_

_"Mama wouldn't let me go out either, Grandpa."_

_"Well, Andres, that just shows that your mama is pretty smart, too, just like your grandma."_

_"Grandpa, they told us not to bother you, but we're bored. Can you tell us a story? Please!"_

_"Yeah, Daddy, please!" add the twins._

_"Andres, why don't you read the twins the story I gave you?"_

_"I...I don't have it, Grandpa. Mama took it away."_

_I'm surprised at that. Lucia had been quite happy when I gave it to him, and I've seen her read it with him several times. I think it's brought tears to her eyes each time. "Why did your mama take it, Andres?"_

_"I don't know. Well, yeah...she said we were getting it dirty and she was afraid we'd ruin it. She said she'd give it back, but it's been a long time. Can you tell us another story? A different story?"_

_"Okay, I guess. Do you want to hear about Alduin the World Eater?"_

_All three children groan. "Not that one again! Everyone knows that one! Tell us a new story! One we haven't heard before! Please."_

_I think about it for a moment and then nod. "Okay. Hold on right here. I'll be back in a second."_

_I step back in my little office and pull a document out of the drawer. Moments later, I'm sitting back down on the steps. "I've been working on this one so I could share it with you at the Moon Festival, but it's done and this is as good a time as any. It is kind of scary, though.. Andres, in fact, it's probably still too scary for your little sister, but since she's not here...well, all of you are old enough now to hear it. So, have you guys ever noticed that Aunt Serana has red eyes? Have you ever wondered about that?"_

_The twins look down, but Aerica looks back up at me, biting her lower lip, as if worried about saying something bad. She whispers, "Kristov says she's a vampire. A good one. Everybody knows there aren't any good vampires."_

_Leave it to my third son to ruin a good surprise; hopefully he or his big brothers won't have spoiled the rest of it for their younger siblings and nephew. I pick up my baby girl and then put her on one leg while pulling the boys closer._

_"Actually guys, Kristov is right. Aunt Serana is a vampire and she is a good one. But once upon a time, she almost wasn't. Once upon a time, her father tried to force her to do something really bad."_

~ESV~

After I adopted Lucia, the next few weeks were spent getting to know my new daughter. We spent our days reading, playing, and learning, and, with the threat of Alduin gone, being happy together. Lydia, in a surprisingly happy mood, was often with us, too, which further brightened our outlook.

About three weeks after the adoption, I surprised my girl one morning when she came to sit down at our little table holding her doll tight to her chest. "Lucia, it looks to me like your doll's dress is pretty dirty."

Tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Papa. It's not a very good dress but I didn't mean to get it dirty. I'll try really hard to clean it."

"Dear, are you okay? I'm not mad at you, you know."

"Really? You're not?"

"No, Lucia. I'm not mad, not at all. Actually, I had an idea. What if we were to pack a bag and take your doll on a little trip to get her some new clothes."

Her face clouded. "New clothes for Jilly?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think I remember seeing a clothing shop in Solitude where they might have some. And we might get some new clothes for you, too, while we're there."

Her face brightened as she realized what I was suggesting, and she gave me a big hug. "Papa! Really? Solitude?"

"Solitude. We'd better hurry, though, if we're going to be able to hire a cart to get there by nightfall. How quickly can you pack a few things?"

~ESV~

Our cart driver made decent time but the roads were quite rough and we arrived in Solitude a couple hours after sunset. I wasn't comfortable with the lantern the driver had hung off the horses' harness, and they weren't either, but it worked well enough and we were lucky not to be surprised by anything coming at us from the side of the road.

When we got to the inn, we rented a room with twin beds for Lucia and me and another with a big bed for Lydia, who had seemed happy to come along and happier still to be able to sleep in such luxury.

The next morning after a leisurely breakfast, our first stop was the local clothing shop where I surprised them by outfitting both of my ladies in new dresses. Lucia was excited, since we started the process to buy several for her, but Lydia was very dubious when I insisted that we get her one, too.

~ESV~

_The owner, who doubled as her own seamstress, was marking Lucia's third dress for tailoring when Lydia stepped out from behind the screen, holding closed the dress (which I'd suggested) with her hands. Whispering to avoid attracting Lucia's attention, she said, "Thane, you're just trying to get a peek at me in the tightest, most ill-fitting dress in the whole damn shop. Maybe in all of Skyrim. The laces are down at the bottom and don't come nearly high enough. Gods! They don't hold anything in at all. Pervert!" She was struggling to hold the top part closed so her breasts didn't fall out the gap in front._

_I remember having to control myself to keep from dying of laughter—or leering—as I watched her wiggle, trying to fit her muscular frame and her lovely breasts into the dress that looked like it might actually be a bit too small. "Lydia, I'm sorry. I didn't know the size, but if you recall, I have seen you in less."_

_"Thane, that was work! This is...well, it's sick. I'm taking it back off."_

_She moved toward the screen, but I stopped her._

_"Lydia, take it off and put the shirt on. You forgot that part." Remembering the dress basic style from my encounters with Dre, I continued, "Then, turn the dress around and put it back on. The lacing on this one goes in the back. I'll tie it up for you when you come out."_

_The kids don't seem to catch my pause or my smile as I remember that part of our shopping expedition and the most embarrassed look I ever saw on Lydia's face. The kids also don't get to hear that part as I continue. I'd been careful in my writing to tone down some of the details and most of the more colorful language for them._

~ESV~

It took some effort but we settled on several dresses for Lucia, a couple of winter play outfits for her, and, with slowly decreasing resistance, two very nice dresses for Lydia. They were all marked for the needed alterations when we prepared to leave. The shop owner even agreed to make a couple of little dresses for Jilly, though I think she charged me almost as much for them as for one of Lucia's.

We spent a week in Solitude before gathering up all of our purchases and hiring a cart to head home, but I had an idea I'd been considering all week. We took the long route with a little detour to Morthal, where I planned to spend one evening at the inn. We arrived late that afternoon, so I stopped by the jarl's hall to look in on the young lady I'd met a couple of months before. I'd swapped a couple of letters with her since that time, so I was hoping that she still remembered me and hadn't confused the letter writer with some other potentially amorous suitor.

"She's not here," said the guard.

"What do you mean? Not here in the hall or not in Morthal?" I could see arriving, unannounced, while she was traveling elsewhere.

The guard smirked at me, making me remember that he was one of the guards I'd taunted following my date with Idgrod.

"Gods only know. And have a perfectly crappy rest of your day."

The guard definitely remembered me, even if it had taken me a bit of time to remember him. Knowing that I probably deserved that from how I'd treated him and his fellow guard last time, I backed away and headed toward the inn but, just down the street, was surprised when the door of the local apothecary shop opened and Idgrod stepped out almost into my arms."

"Aerik! When did you arrive? And why didn't someone come to let me know?"

My heart raced since, no matter what happened next, she was here, and, even more important, she had remembered me. "Ahem, we just got here a little while ago and the guards at the hall told me you were down this way, so I decided to surprise you."

"I will be sure to thank them for this wonderful surprise. Wait, you said 'we.' Lydia, your housecarl, is with you?"

I was pretty surprised that she seemed genuinely excited to see me and even more shocked that she remembered Lydia's name. "Yes, Lydia's here, and so is Lucia, my daughter."

"Wait—you have a daughter? I'm sorry, I didn't know you were married." Her whole countenance changed in an instant.

I've been told by a number of people, both men and women, that I'm as blind as a Falmer when it comes to romance. This time, however, blind as I was, even I understood.

"Idgrod, I'm not married and never have been. Lucia was orphan and had nowhere to go, so I adopted her recently."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I'd love for you to join us for dinner so you can meet her."

~ESV~

We dined at the inn, asking for a table in the corner where we could have a nice, quiet conversation and get to know each other.

As small as Morthal was, that seemed like a good plan, but it turned out that almost everyone in town who wasn't at Highmoon Hall gathered at the inn in the evening for dinner, drinks, games, or some combination thereof, and a generally raucous time. We had our table in the corner, true, but quiet was not part of the picture. We had to speak up to be heard, but we had a good time before I sent Lucia to bed with Lydia going with her to keep watch over her.

Idgrod and I had a lovely walk around Morthal, getting to know each other better, but my hand shot to my blade when a strange man stepped out of the shadows in front of us. Thinking we might be under attack, I moved Idgrod behind me and had my blade half way out of its sheath when she said, "Wait! Aerik, it's okay. I know him; he's been here in town for a while."

In the moonlight, I saw that he was an Orc rather than a human and that he had no weapon drawn. Still apprehensive, I reseated my blade, but was prepared to respond to any threatening moves at a moment's notice.

"You play a dangerous game when you surprise someone like that, friend."

"Sorry, Dragonborn, but I've been wanting to talk to you. You really are the Dragonborn, correct?"

"Yea-ah. Who are you? And what do you want to talk about? And why do you want to do it when I'm walking with the lady?"

Despite my rapid-fire questions, he was quite calm. "My name is Durak, and there is no time like the present, Dragonborn, when pressing business awaits."

"What business do you mean?"

"Evil things are afoot in Skyrim, and soon throughout all of Tamriel and beyond. Only the Dawnguard can prevent this, and only if we have members like you who can help us stop it."

"Dawnguard? What's that? Another bloody faction? That's all we need in the middle of this stupid war."

"No, the Dawnguard has nothing to do with war other than wanting to keep people—all people: Humans, Elves, Khajiit, Argonians, and Orcs—safe. The time is coming when none will be, though, when the vampires rule the night. We know you killed a powerful one here a while back, so we need you, Dragonborn, to help us prevent that."

"Vampires? More vampires? You've got to be kidding me. Goodnight, Mister Orc, and don't let the boogey-man bite. Don't bother me again, either." Not even bothering to decline his invitation, I was laughing as I led Idgrod away.

Sweet Igrod, however, didn't seem to see it so humorously. She was silent as I walked her home, looking apprehensive or even fearful, though I didn't think to question at the time whether it was of the supposed vampires or of me. She was so preoccupied with whatever was bothering her that she mumbled goodnight as she entered Highmoon Hall, not even giving me a chance to kiss her hand, much less her cheek.

~ESV~

Realizing too late that I'd probably gone overboard with my derision of the Orc, I spent a restless and largely sleepless night in the bed in the inn. Therefore, I stopped at Highmoon Hall the next morning to apologize to her and tell her goodbye as we were on our way out of Morthal. I was surprised when I was met by Aslfur, who Idgrod had told me was not only her mother's steward but also the jarl's husband and her own father.

"Good morning, Sir."

"Not really, I'm afraid. I must speak with you, Dragonborn."

"What about, Sir?"

"You've been spending time with my daughter, and not just my daughter, but the jarl's daughter. That must stop, and stop now. Young Idgrod will not be seeing you again. You're to leave and not come back, understand?"

"No, I'm sorry, I don't. What do you mean?"

"Alright, you leave me no choice. I'll spell it out for you. You're the Dragonborn, true, but you're also an uncouth, landless commoner. I know, you have a shack in Whiterun, but you don't own property, boy, real property, and you aren't in the same class as my girl. She will be jarl of Morthal some day, and she does not need you as a distraction since you will not be at her side, now or ever. Leave Morthal, and don't return. Ever. If you set foot in town again, the guards will deal with you. Unkindly, I'm afraid."

"Is that Idgrod's—young Idgrod's—wish?"

"It wouldn't matter if it wasn't, boy, but in this case, it is, and the jarl's wish as well. Our daughter has realized it is what is best for her and for Morthal. She said for me to tell you she never wants to see you again. Now, go, and never return."

Not wishing to get into a fight with her father and the guards that had gathered around, I backed away, heartbroken. Turning, I walked out of Morthal and out of Idgrod's life.

~ESV~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading this story as I continue it with Arc 2. Thanks to all who have commented, followed, or favorited it, too.
> 
> Thanks also go to the late Steve McQueen, the Cooler King, from the 1963 movie masterpiece, "The Great Escape," who helped inspire the scene with the bouncing ball.


	6. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 2

We arrived home late that evening to find letters from several jarls requesting help with dragons. Alduin was gone, true, but other dragons were causing trouble across Skyrim. Since the jarls barely had enough troops to guard their towns due to the war and not nearly enough troops to send some gallivanting across their holds in search of the beasts, they were forced to look for other solutions. Knowing that I had ample experience with dragons, they'd gotten the bright idea to have me take care of their problem. Fortunately, they all promised rewards for my assistance.

I'd just spent far more money on our trip than I'd planned, so I was already planning to stop by Hulda's to pick up another of the jarl's bounty posters. However, that was really in the back of my mind. I was gritting my teeth over my tongue-lashing at the hand of Idgrod's father and was feeling my heart being squeezed unmercifully at her rejection. Therefore, it wasn't long before I decided to accept the jarls' requests. Realizing it had been a while since their requests had been sent, I decided that a few more days probably wouldn't hurt. I would spend that time with my Lucia before departing.

~ESV~

_I remember keeping up a happy face, smiling and enjoying my time with Lucia, but there was a great sadness in my soul at the severed connection with Idgrod. I don't know if Lucia caught the change in my personality, but Lydia soon did._

_"Are you okay, Thane?" she had asked._

_I was honest with her, but not completely. "Idgrod and I won't be seeing each other anymore. We decided it would never work, but it leaves me somewhat sad."_

_I'll never forget the expression on Lydia's face or what she said. "I'm sorry, my Thane, but I feared that might someday be the case. As much as you liked her, I wasn't sure if she would ever be good enough for you."_

~ESV~

Two nights before we left on what we eventually dubbed our "Great Dragon Tour," we had dinner with War-Bear and Adrianne. It was a very nice meal, but I dreaded what I had to do after putting my Lucia to bed. It had taken surprisingly little effort to get her to agree, but I'd already named Lydia to be Lucia's guardian in case I didn't return someday. As a result, generous accounts had been set up for both of them at the palace in the event of my death. In addition to exacerbating my cash flow problem, there was a little problem with that arrangement.

Lydia was my near constant companion, always traveling with me and experiencing the same dangers that I faced. If something were to happen to her, too, and neither of us returned, I needed a backup plan. Therefore, I asked my friends if they would step in as Lucia's foster parents in that case. Lydia's account would remain the same, but it would be willed to them if neither of us survived. I told them that the account in combination with my little house should be enough to cover their costs of raising Lucia.

I didn't understand why but Adrianne's eyes misted over, and she suddenly got up from her chair, crying, and left my home.

"Ulf, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I did—"

"Aerik, don't worry. It's not you. It's a long story, actually, but the short version is that Adrianne never wanted children. She said more times than I can count that Skyrim was just too hard a place to even think of bringing kids into the world, much less raising them here."

I felt horrible. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ulf. I had no idea that she felt that way or that she didn't want kids. I would never have asked if I'd known, and wouldn't have asked you guys to watch Lucia during my trips. I'll make other arrangements before I leave again."

He shook his head. "No, Aerik. There's no need. All of that was before she spent so much time with Lucia in recent months. She loves the girl and has slowly softened her stance." He smiled as he continued. "She has since changed her mind completely. She's now carrying our child."

~ESV~

I was surprised when Adrianne and Ulf came over the next morning. She stepped forward and kissed my clean-shaven cheek before rubbing it lightly and throwing Lydia a wink. "Aerik, Ulfberth and I desperately want both you and Lydia to come home safely, but it the need ever arises, we would be honored to take Lucia as our own child and the big sister of our baby."

I thanked them and congratulated them heartily on their own upcoming addition. Later that day, I made the appropriate legal arrangements with Adrianne's father, the steward at Dragonreach. The man, having only recently learned that he would soon be a grandfather, now learned that, if my luck was really bad, he might be inheriting another grandchild. Strangely, I couldn't tell exactly what his feelings were about that.

Since we were leaving very early the next morning, we took Lucia to the smiths' home that night. After putting her to bed, the War-Bear and I clasped arms while Adrianne hugged Lydia, and my housecarl and I wished them the best as we presented them a small gift to celebrate their upcoming baby.

~ESV~

When we walked into Riverwood the next day, I was surprised to see a small crowd gathered in front of the inn. I'd passed through Riverwood, briefly, on escaping from Helgen, and had only met the blacksmith, the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper's sister. Two later trips to meet Delphine had been rather clandestine, so I didn't know anyone else in town; I was surprised to learn there were so many people. Someone up front was speaking but I couldn't understand what they were saying until we moved in close.

"—xth one in the last two months. Every time supplies come from Falkreath or Markarth, they're intercepted by these guys! The jarl in Whiterun refuses to do anything about it since the bandits are in Falkreath Hold. The new jarl in Falkreath refuses to do anything since the bandits are only bothering travelers leaving his hold. That leaves us trapped in the middle!"

"So what do you want us to do, Lucan?"

"Listen, we don't get the supplies we need, and everyone in town is hurting. If we can't depend on the jarls, we need to do something for ourselves!"

"Like you're going to do it!"

"Hey, I've got a bad back. That's why I'm a shopkeeper rather than doing something that could make me more money."

There was round of laughter when Lucan said that, but someone else spoke up. "So you want us to send someone down to fight these bandits, but you don't want to be a part of it? We've seen what happens; they rob or even kill our people if we stray to the south! Whoever tries to go after them will die! We can't—"

"Maybe I can," I called.

Lydia's head shot around at me in surprise with her standard "are you crazy?" look, but I didn't respond to her since I knew she was probably right. "Tell me what you know about these bandits."

There were actually two competing groups of bandits, one holed up in an old mine and the others staked out near the split in the road to Helgen. It took two days, but Lydia and I systematically wiped out both groups, rescued parts of a couple of shipments from the bandits in the mine, and collected and sold most of the personal gear from both groups. With the small reward we received from the townspeople, it had been a fairly profitable two days.

In addition, Lydia had reminded me of what she called the hideous claw just before we left home, so I'd thrown it in my bag in hopes it might be the one that Lucan had told me had been stolen from his shop. I'd recovered it from a barrow months earlier but had never openly been back to Riverwood to see if it really was his missing centerpiece. It either was his missing claw or was so close that he claimed it, so I gave it to him in return for a small reward. Of course, I really wanted it out of my backpack by that point, so I'd have probably given it to him just to get rid of it.

~ESV~

_Between having recovered some of their goods and having restored their hideous claw to them, Lucan's sister, Camilla, seemed quite taken with me. We had a community celebration that night, with everyone in town singing, dancing, and drinking, but the woman spent the entire evening at my side. It wasn't long before I caught Lydia giving me a warning with her eyes. Still hurting from the rejection by Idgrod and with my heart still not quite ready to let her go, I didn't really need Lydia's look, but it was appreciated when I realized that the young woman was far more determined than I had anticipated. I'm not sure how Camilla managed it, but she ended up being my dance partner in, I believe, every dance._

_We came out of a spirited reel to a round of clapping, but I was taken aback when Camilla slipped into my arms and almost melted against me. Her soft lips were on mine in an instant and I surprised myself when I didn't resist. It was as if the world was spinning around us as we slowly turned and I was almost completely at peace for that particular moment in time._

_It was a very brief moment, though. As we continued our slow turn, my eyes, which had never closed, met Lydia's tear-filled eyes. She turned away quickly when she saw I'd caught her and and walked away. Realizing what I'd done, I started to pull away from Camilla only to catch sight of the village bard, who was looking at me with hate plastered across his face. Hoping I wasn't reading it wrong, I steered Camilla in his direction, and, when I was close enough, I quickly switched her grasp from me to him. Slipping away without even telling her goodnight, I went in search of Lydia but had no luck until I returned to our room in the inn. She was already in her bed with her covers pulled tight around her and a pillow over her head._

~ESV~

We left for Falkreath the next morning and it was a long, quiet walk. We were well on our way when we came upon a roadside shrine, but it wasn't the typical happy place of worship. There had been a massacre.

Lydia came and stood by me as we looked at the bodies. "What do you want to do, Thane? Gather some wood or leave them?"

"It would take too much wood for a pyre for all four of them. Let's just bury them. I'll dig the hole and you gather some rocks to top it to keep the animals out."

"I am sworn to carry your burdens."

I wasn't sure if I was detecting a degree of exaggeration in her voice, so I asked, "Or would you rather dig the hole?"

She frowned at me before finally laughing and giving me a mischievous grin. "Thane, I'm sworn to carry your burdens, not dig your graves."

~ESV~

_I don't know what it was, but that seemed to break the icy silence between us and we went to work. Not having a proper shovel, it took a good while to dig the hole for the four bodies. I figured I was getting close when Lydia called out to me, "Thane, come here. You need to see this."_

_Hidden behind a rock where it had fallen was a fifth body._

_"Crap! I hate bandits. I sure hope we got the ones that did this." Even as I said it, I knew that wasn't the case. These people had been killed at about the same time we were finishing off the second band of bandits._

_My first thought, however, quickly changed when Lydia rolled the body over. It was a male Thalmor._

_"Damn!"_

_"Exactly," she agreed. "At least two of the bodies had arrows in them like the ones in this guy's quiver."_

_"I didn't know these bastards were operating around here."_

_"Me either. Whatever, a dead one can't be good. I don't know why they would have left him here, though."_

_"The dead folks appeared to have put up a fight, so one of them may have killed him without his companions seeing him fall? Back there, it might have been tough, so the others might have thought he deserted or maybe chased off after one that was escaping."_

_"So what do we do?"_

_"We remember what the bloody Thalmor did here and we make the hole a little bigger..."_

~ESV~

After we buried the bodies, we cut across country from the lake road to the south road to Falkreath. In doing so, we crossed a bluff overlooking the lake and the mountain to the south. "Wow! This is such a pretty view," I said to Lydia. She took a look and nodded in agreement before we moved on.

We got to Falkreath late that afternoon and reported to the jarl. I'd selected a suitable present in advance, but was disappointed when the man took it without thanks and then started complaining that it had taken us so long to get there.

"I'm sorry, Jarl. I didn't realize that you'd already had your dragon problem solved by someone else. There are several other jarls who've requested our help, so we'll be on our way."

The man turned red and started sputtering before finally saying, "Wait! It's okay. A bit of delay in such trying times as these can be understandable. The dragon's been seen..."

~ESV~

_We stayed in the inn in Falkreath that night, but it was crowded since several families that had been burned out by the dragon were staying there. These people were practically celebrating that we were there to put an end to the menace, but I felt sick at my stomach as I spoke with them. My delay in coming, as much as it meant to me and Lucia, had cost some of these people almost everything._

_The innkeeper made a small room available for Lydia and me, but it only had a single bed. Lydia was preparing to sleep on the floor, but I told her no. We'd shared a bed about that size before, so we'd do it again or else we would both sleep on the floor._

_Personally, I wasn't looking forward to the night on the hard surface; I didn't want either of us to be stiff or sore when it came time to fight the dragon. Therefore, I was quite relieved when she said, "Thank you, Thane."_

_"Lydia, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to let things go so far with...her."_

_"It's okay, Thane. I know your feelings, and particularly your feelings about me, so I shouldn't have reacted as I did. Your business is none of mine unless you will it. And speaking of business, I hope we can deal with the dragon quickly. Can you believe how much some of these people have lost? They need to feel safe again so they can move on with their lives, whether it's in true safety or not."_

_Realizing she'd deliberately changed the subject, my thoughts turned to the poor families, including a couple of babies that I heard crying in the adjacent rooms, and I was soon dwelling on it. "Lydia, I shouldn't have waited. I should have had us come at once so we could put a stop to it."_

_"You don't know that, Thane. And besides, which jarl would you have helped first? What about the others that you couldn't? You couldn't have blamed yourself for what happened to them. Not rightly blame yourself for them, anyway, and you shouldn't blame yourself now." She sat down on the side of the bed. "Come. Let's get some sleep so we'll be rested enough to kill that beast tomorrow."_

_We were touching when we lay in the little bed, and Lydia, sensing the regret I was feeling over what had happened to the families in the other rooms, put her arm back around me to comfort me. "You can only do so much, Thane. And you can't save everyone." She gave me a comforting squeeze before moving her arm back in front of her._

_Lydia was a muscular woman, but she was a woman and a beautiful woman despite not being my usual type. I kept telling myself that, but the softer parts of her curves pressing against me soon stirred a feeling that I had to that point resisted when with her._

_"Uh, sorry."_

_She laughed. "Thane, I'm not. I'm actually quite honored, but now is neither the time nor the place. That silly girl from Morthal is still deep in your heart, even if the slut from Riverwood was trying her best to get into it…or into something, anyway… and these people here are weighing heavily on your mind, too." She hesitated before whispering, "Aerik, I care about you, far more than you probably realize, but I am not here as a replacement for her…or the slut…or as a comfort versus thoughts of the tribulations of the people here. If the time and situation is ever right for us, we'll know it and we'll act on it then."_

_"Thank you, Lydia. You are one very smart and very dear woman. That makes a lot of sense."_

_"I'm glad you realize that, Thane, so you won't mind me saying this: Until we get to that point, if ever, you'd best control yourself and keep your hand away from there."_

~ESV~

_My Aerica, sitting on my knee, sees me cough as I flush at that memory. "What is it, Daddy? Are you okay?"_

_"Yes, dear. Just remembering that as being a very, very rough time."_

~ESV~


	7. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 3

Climbing mountains in Skyrim is difficult and dangerous. In addition to the ever-present danger of slipping and falling, there can be massive avalanches of snow, rockslides, hypothermia, getting lost in blizzards, running into—well, let me tell you about that.

The dragon had been seen taking off from and landing on a mountain to the southeast of Falkreath, so the jarl sent a young man with us as our guide to help find it. Filborn said he'd climbed the mountain with his grandfather a few years before the dragons returned, so, before we left town, he drew out a map of the route by which the old man had taken him. We were about three-fourths of the way up to the top the mountain and I was beginning to believe Filborn was confused on exactly which mountain he'd climbed when we finally came upon the narrow cavern he'd described before we sent him back to Falkreath.

"I think it's actually a crevice in the rock rather than a real cavern, because it's really narrow in spots and the ceiling is ice rather than rock. Gramps told me it was a glacier overhead, but I'm not sure if he was right."

"Filborn, why did your grandpa climb the mountain?"

"He'd go up there and gather rock warbler eggs. They're hard to find around here, but some of the birds nest up on top of the mountain. People in Windhelm consider them real delicacies, so Gramps would go up there in the spring and then in the summer and bring back a whole sackful each time. He always enjoyed the trip to Windhelm to sell them, too, since he always enjoyed seeing the lady who bought them. Course, I guess Gramps is dead now; he went out one day and never came home."

The young man had been a little confused on how far up the mountain it was, but there stood the cave, just as he'd said.

"See, told you," quipped Lydia with a grin.

"Sorry I doubted him. And you, of course. How'd you know he wasn't confused?"

"He did it with his grandpa, which showed the old man trusted the boy to be able to make the climb. It was an important milestone in the boy's life, so he wouldn't forget it. You know, like your first kiss, your first romp in the sack—or at least the first one with someone who knows what they're doing—or the first time you see your thane stark nak—"

"Lydia!"

Having seen how red I'd turned, she laughed. "Some things, Thane, you just never forget. Even if you want to. Or not," she giggled. "So, do you want to go first?"

We entered the narrow cavern entrance, being as quiet as we could as we moved along.

The roof was covered by glacial-like ice as Filborn had told us. It was strange seeing the sunlight filtering dimly through untold feet of ice above, causing the roof of the cave, far overhead, to practically glow. Still, it was quite dark on the cavern floor, so despite the risks it entailed, we needed a light to avoid stumbling through the darkness and making even more noise to advertise our presence.

"Do you want me to light a torch, Thane? Or do you want to do your poppy-finger trick?"

I never wanted to become a mage, and definitely never meant to join the mages' college; I went there for help in finding an Elder Scroll to use in taking down Alduin and, the next thing I know, I'm enrolled, helping them, and learning magic tricks. Unfortunately, as a Nord, I wasn't naturally blessed with magical ability, so everything came hard to me. I'd learn a new spell but it wouldn't be useful due to my inability to cast it without concentrating long and hard—and exclusively—on it. That included even the simplest of spells like candlelight.

It had taken lots and lots of practice, and some very special help, but I finally got to the point I could do it without even really concentrating too hard. After I'd mastered it, Lydia would often give me a chance to do it. I wasn't sure if it was because she proud of me or trying to keep me in practice so I wouldn't forget it again, though I had a good suspicion. There in the cavern, I made the motions for the power symbol and then snapped my finger as I said the command words. At once, we were bathed in a gentle glow. I raised my hand and the little light rose above us and was soon moving forward with us.

We'd traveled a short distance through the meandering crevice when we encountered a horrible smell.

"Ugh! Watch your step, Lydia. I think there are fresh feces, and lots of them, just ahead."

"Fresh, Thane?" whispered Lydia, almost gagging. "Are you kidding me? I really don't think fresh and that smell have anything at all to do with each other! The utter stupidity of our language sometimes surprises me, though I'm not sure why since we see examples every day. So, what do you think? Bear? Or a whole clan of bears?"

"I think it's called a sleuth of bears."

"See! Where'd they come up with such a stupid name?"

"Don't ask me, I didn't come up with it. As for your question, it may be a whole bunch of really sick bears."

"Would that be a sleuth of sick bears? And I think you might be one to have figured that out."

Even before I had a chance to respond to her jibe, I gagged. "Oh! By the Nine! It's getting worse."

My little flicker chose that moment to expire so I gave the command as I popped my fingers again—

"Look out!"

Lydia's cry as the new candlelight came into being caused me to bring my shield up just in time for it to block a huge, hairy paw that might have taken my head off. As it was, it drove me backward a couple of feet, right into Lydia, who helped brace me to keep me from falling. Another blow rained in, but I blocked it, too, as I drew Bloodthorn from its sheath; there wasn't room in the crevice to be sure I'd have room to fight with my sword.

Even with the horrible smell of the excrement, I suddenly realized the even fouler stench I'd detected just seconds before had been something completely different. Fetid breath laced with the putrid smell of decaying flesh washed across me as I tried to focus on my opponent, who continued taking swings at me. With the candle spell hanging relatively low since I hadn't had time to adjust its height, I believed for a moment, as Lydia had suggested, that it was a great big bear, but the smell, the rapidity of the blows, and the glimpses I could get in the faint light made me soon realize it was something else entirely. Something far more deadly!

~ESV~

_Aerica is gripping my arm and Aern is biting his bottom lip as I pause to look at my kids. Andres' eyes are rather wide, too. I smile at my grandson while giving my twins comforting pats._

_"This isn't too scary, is it? I can skip ahead if you want."_

_"What was it?" the kids demand._

_I wink at Andres before turning back to the page and continuing to read._

~ESV~

"Lydia, quick! Light that torch! I think this is a troll!"

"You're just now figuring that out, Thane? Gods! How would you survive without me?" She was almost laughing at me as I bashed my shield forward against the creature, driving it against the sidewall, and then ripping upward with Bloodthorn.

Three or four cuts were enough to cause it to slump to the ground. I breathed a sigh of relief as Lydia's torch caught just as my candlelight faded again. I was about to tell her to move closer so I could look at the troll at my feet when a roar startled me. Still, my shield was up and ready when another troll stepped into the glow of our light. Having just fought one, I had a battle plan that allowed me to finish this new troll off quickly. It was soon on the ground next to its fellow.

Lydia held the torch up high so I could look at the trolls and to give us a little more time if another were to approach. "Thane, can we get out of here? This smell is killing me. And please don't tell me you're going to burn these like that one out in the forest? That smell may have been almost as bad as this."

"No, I think the book that said they could regenerate even from the dead was wrong, so no troll burning. In here, we'd suffocate from the smoke if the smell of trolls and troll poop didn't kill us first."

"You saw that in a book? Where?" She looked quite skeptical.

Having finished with the trolls, we moved forward as I answered. "I think that book was in the library at the mage college."

"Well, who wrote it? I want to send that author a piece of my mind."

"I don't remember the author's name, or even the name of the book. _A Monster Manual_ , maybe?"

She shook her head. "Thane, what is it with you and stupid names today?"

We found the trolls' lair in a small alcove, so, holding our noses, we gave it a quick search. There were lots of bones, including some human bones we had to ignore, but we finally came upon a couple of things that might have value back in town. I was packing them into a sack when Lydia called, "Thane, I think you should see this."

It looked like a regular burlap sack to me, but she had a sad look as she showed me what looked like green speckled and white flakes of some type of material. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but Lydia seemed to know.

She stirred around in the bag for a moment before reaching in and pulling out a larger piece that even I recognized as part of a rock warbler eggshell. Pointing to a nearby skull, she said, "I'm not sure but I think we may have found what's left of Filborn's grandpa."

~ESV~

We finally exited the cavern and took to a clump of trees where we practically gulped in the fresh, cold air. Lydia had me sit down with my back against a tree while she took large handfuls of snow to my armor and boots, trying to get as much of the foul waste and smell off of me as possible.

"You don't want the dragon to smell you before we even get close to it," she said. When she was done, I made her rest while I did the same for her. My task was easier since it was mostly her boots that were soiled. Then, I cleaned my dagger, shield, and gauntlets. Afterward, we moved a short distance and had a bit to eat.

From there, it was still a long and winding way up the mountain to the dragon's roost. We moved slowly and kept low to avoid noise and, we hoped, to keep from being spotted. As we neared the fairly level area near the top, where Filborn believed the dragon to have its lair, our bows were in hand and each of us had an arrow nocked, ready to be drawn and fired. We'd already worked out a preliminary plan of attack, so we hoped we'd have a little time to refine it before hells broke loose.

We were surprised to actually hear the beast before we saw it. There were a series of loud crunching noises, the source of which became clear once we finally peeked over the edge of the little plain. The dragon, sitting atop a rock well back in the flat area, had a foot on the remains of the body of a horse; the sound was that of the horse's bones being crushed by the dragon's teeth and jaws. All-in-all, it was a hideous sight with blood, body parts, and equine wastes scattered all around it.

I heard Lydia gulp almost soundlessly as she saw it, and I grinned to myself that my reaction hadn't been quite as severe. Studying the terrain and the dragon's position, I made a little diagram in the snow between us, refining our initial battle plan. Once things got really going, it would be a matter of action and reaction, but I'd worked with Lydia long enough to know that she would make the right choice and I hoped that I would, too.

I moved a few feet down the incline and started trekking south, to our right, keeping low, well below the dragon's line of sight. When I had gone as far as I could before the slope became too steep, I figured I should be near the best point for my approach. I looked over to Lydia; she gave me the thumbs-up that the dragon hadn't moved. Moving up to the rim of the rise, I peeked over it to see that I was still a few yards off from the spot I'd hoped to be, but it didn't matter. In addition to being out of cover, I was out of time.

The dragon had one big bite left of the horse.

Now, if you've ever attacked a dragon, you know there aren't any really good times to do it, but what are probably the best times when you absolutely must are when it's asleep or right after it's had a big meal. I waited until it took the bite, signaled to Lydia, and let my arrow fly.

The arrow struck the dragon hard in the throat, causing it to practically choke on the last of the horse. With my bow in hand, I drew again and let another arrow fly as I jumped up and ran, arcing to the north but then directly at the dragon, screaming as I went.

As hoped, my yelling attracted its attention. The dragon's head swung toward me as it started to disengage itself from the rock on which it was sunning itself. Spitting horse flesh and assorted bits out as best as it could, it prepared to take to the sky.

Being Dragonborn, I'm blessed with some of the same shouts cherished by the greatest of the flying beasts, so I used one to try to knock the dragon off its perch and off balance, hoping to keep it from taking wing. The shout had been particularly effective against Alduin the World Eater, and here it proved its worth once more. The beast rolled to its side, exposing its belly to anyone who happened to be off to the north.

That someone was Lydia, who fired one arrow and then another as I closed. Both went just to the right of the rock as we'd planned, sinking deep into the dragon's weakest point; being off balance, it didn't even see their source, allowing Lydia to prepare to fire again as it staggered to its feet.

Ducking under its head and using the edge of my shield to slam into it, my sword slashed against the dragon's neck as it tried to shoot fire at me. The jet of flame was far weaker than it had probably intended, but I still felt the warmth as it shot past me without being directly exposed in the flames.

The beast tried to spin its body to the side, away from me, which, unfortunately, put me between Lydia's arrows and the dragon. Its front clawed foot shot forward at me as the dragon gulped, preparing to shoot more flames at me. I bashed my shield against the claw, preventing the creature from hitting me with it, but one of its nails hooked just over the top of my shield.

~ESV~

_I pause in my reading of the story and turn to the kids._

_"The dragon was going to EEEAT MEEEE!"_

_I follow with my attempt at a scary laugh that turns out even cornier than I'd believed possible, but my little girl frowns at me, much like Lucia had often done when she was that age._

_Aerica says, "Daddy! The dragon was big and mean and really could have eaten you all up. After all, it did just eat a horse and you're not nearly that big."_

_I briefly wonder if I've given too much detail. I'm about to tell her it's okay when Aern speaks up._

_"Oh, silly! He's here so the dragon didn't eat him!"_

_My girl looks at her twin and makes a stern face at him. "I know that. But it could have!"_

_Andres rolls his eyes and Aern's about to tangle with his sister when I interrupt. "Say! Speaking of eating, do you guys want to go get a snack?"_

_All three excitedly say, "No! What happened?"_

~ESV~

I felt myself being dragged forward and off balance as the dragon jerked its foot and my shield back toward itself. I did the only thing I could do—I surprised it and let the shield go. It went spinning away and, with, the dragon pulling backward, this reversed the situation. It was a big creature so I wouldn't say it was off balance, but it was pretty surprised, if only for an instant. I used that moment to strike a second and then third blow with my sword, while drawing my dagger with my left hand to bring as much damage to bear on it as possible.

I didn't get to use it, though. A loud "thwack!" drew my attention as the beast stopped moving, falling forward with an arrow in its eye that had driven directly into its brain. Moments later, a rush of wind and heat swept over me as I absorbed the beast's soul.

Lydia was standing nearby when I came out of that drug-like reverie. "Lydia! That was incredible! That was probably the best shot I've ever seen. How on Nirn did you do that?"

She looked down, sheepishly. "Thane, it had its mouth open, so I was, uh, shooting for the roof of its mouth. It moved and I missed what I was aiming for, but I got really lucky."

~ESV~

Lydia and I spent the next three weeks traveling through three more holds in the process of tracking down and killing two more dragons. At inns where we spent our nights, I usually told the story of how "Eagle-eye" Lydia had killed the dragon. Other patrons almost always bought us dinner and drinks, making our trip a bit more fun and definitely more profitable, and for three weeks my companion seemed to almost enjoy her newfound fame.

All through our trip, Lydia and I frequently talked about Lucia, hoping she was having a happy time staying with our friends. We sent a couple of letters along the way, but had no idea at the time if they would arrive before we got home. By the time our tour was over, we were really looking forward to getting back home to see her.

When we finally made it back to Whiterun, it was after dark. I knew Warmaiden's would be closed, but I hoped we'd arrived before Adrianne and Ulf had put my girl to bed. Lydia and I both really wanted to surprise her.

It was I who got the surprise, though. We approached the city gate to find it partly open and several guards milling around outside. They stopped us, claiming 'no entry,' but we identified ourselves and, when they recognized us, they allowed us to pass.

Inside the gate, there were more guards holding back a gathering crowd from The Drunken Huntsman and homes down the street. My eyes soon set on what the people had gathered to see.

It was like a battlefield in front of Warmaiden's and the barracks. There were several bodies and some piles of what looked like ash, but my eyes were drawn to the girl on her knees and bent over one of the bodies. In the dim light that I supplemented with a finger snap, I recognized the dress before the girl; it was my Lucia, and she was bent, crying, over Adrianne's lifeless body.

A few feet away, I saw Ulfberth War-Bear, his arm stretched out toward his wife, with a dark streak of blood on the pavestones where it looked like he tried to crawl to her. His fingers had been just inches from his beloved when he died.

Grasping my girl, I felt her struggle against me for a moment before she turned to see it was me.

She shouted, "Papa!" as she threw her arms around me.

I held her tight but no tighter than she held me as she cried. I tried to comfort her, but she kept repeating "Miss Adrianne, Mister War-Bear," over and over between her sobs. With comforting arms around her as I patted her back and tried to soothe her, I finally caught the eye of Commander Caius, the captain of the guard. I motioned to him. He nodded and put up a finger as he finished speaking with someone else.

"Lydia, please take Lucia home. I'll be there in a few minutes, sweetheart. Go with Lydia, okay?"

"Okay, Pa," she said through her sniffles.

When I saw them enter our house safely, I went to the commander rather than waiting for him. "Caius, what happened here? What caused this?"

"A vampire attack. Third one in the last two weeks here in Whiterun. War-Bear and the Ladysmith came out to help fight them; they fought together and got one before the others killed them."

"Vampires? Here?"

"Yeah, Dragonborn. We're hearing of increasing numbers of vampire attacks all across Skyrim. No one seems to know why."

My heart felt crushed. Once again, my procrastination had led to death and destruction. This time, though, it hit far too close to home; two of my best friends in the world were dead, possibly because of me. It was then, at that exact moment, that I decided that would be the last time that happened.

I looked at Caius and slowly shook my head. "I don't know why either, Commander...but I just might know someone who does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading this story. Thanks to all who have commented, followed, or favorited it, too; if you're enjoying it and this chapter in particular, please take a moment to let me know. Thanks!


	8. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 4

First thing the next morning, I was at Dragonsreach visiting Farengar, the court wizard. He pulled several books from his shelves and let me read the pertinent passages on vampires. I wasn't sure how helpful they'd be since some contradicted others. This was once when I wished I had the resources of the College of Winterhold at my disposal, but I feared there wasn't enough time to make the trip.

I spent the latter part of the morning training with our local alchemist, Arcadia, and the early part of the afternoon mixing several potions that she'd taught me to make. When I was done, I had a lot of small, stoppered vials and bottles filled with various liquids. Arcadia gave me an alchemist's satchel and showed me how to efficiently organize and pack the little containers so they would be easy to find and safe from practically anything other than a direct blow to the case. In return, I gave her several of my leftover potions that wouldn't fit in the satchel.

There was a service for Adrianne and Ulfberth late that afternoon, where I was surprised to see Lydia, wearing one of her new dresses, step forward to sing a dirge for our friends. While I'd heard her hum to herself many times during our journeys and even sing aloud a few times when we shared a bottle, I didn't know she could really sing. The gathering was silent when she finished, and I doubt that there was a dry eye, including my own, in the whole crowd. Andurs, the priest, and Proventus, Adrianne's dad, then led the procession down the steps into the Hall of the Dead, with Adrianne's coffin and Ulf's urn being carried behind them.

I made the trip down the stairs with Lucia holding my hand and Lydia on her other side. We walked by our friends' resting place and slowly moved forward until I finally reached her father and briefly shook his hand.

"I'm very sorry, Sir. Adrianne and Ulfberth were two of my best friends. I will miss them greatly." I paused as Lydia and Lucia moved on before I whispered to him, "And I _will_ avenge them."

"Good," replied Proventus quietly, once again grasping my hand. This time, though, there was something cold and hard in his hand which remained in mine when he pulled away. "Take whatever you need. All of it, if you need it. Every last bit. Make...them...pay."

I waited until I'd taken a few steps and was out of sight of the people following me in the line before looking down in my hand to see the key to Warmaiden's.

~ESV~

I entered the shop early that evening and spent the next several hours going back and forth between the work area outside and the items that had been for sale on the inside. When I left shortly before midnight, I'd repaired or upgraded my armor, weapons, and equipment. As I was leaving, I turned back toward the counter where Ulf had been such a constant, welcoming figure. "My friends, I'm going to avenge you both. If I don't succeed, I'll see you soon in Sovngarde."

I locked the door and handed the key to a passing guard as I was on my way home. "Please give this to Proventus Avenicci, the steward at Dragonsreach. He'll understand." Several septims in the guard's hand assured that he would make the delivery.

Early the next morning, I hugged and kissed my girl goodbye, and then wished Lydia well. She was quite mad at me that I wouldn't let her come, too, but I told her that taking care of Lucia was far more important to me, and with that off my list of worries, I'd be able to do what needed to be done.

We stepped outside out of Lucia's hearing before I whispered, "Lydia, whatever you do, don't let Lucia go outside after sunset. When darkness falls, it may not be safe for her or for you. Please, my friend, stay inside, stay safe, and keep her safe."

"Don't' worry, I'll keep her safe, Thane." She leaned in and kissed me on my cheek. "We'll pray for you every night; may the Divines go with you and keep you safe, too."

~ESV~

It was late afternoon when the cart driver took the turn to the steep and narrow road down to Morthal. Just outside the gate, I told him to wait; I didn't expect either part of my business to take very long and despite it being late, we needed to go as far as we could before nightfall.

I marched right down the center of Morthal's main street. Several guards saw me coming and, on recognizing me, stepped out as if to draw their weapons.

I was in no mood to play. Striding directly toward them, I growled, "I warn you. Don't even try it." After having fought dragons, trolls, a couple of hagravens, and a giant in recent weeks, I wasn't about to let a few guards intimidate me.

Most of the guards recognized my look, but one brave, or perhaps foolhardy, soul stepped in front of me, drawing his sword. I'd already warned them all, so I didn't bother with a second warning that would likely be heeded no better than the first. I hit him with a dragon shout that caused him to careen backward at least 20-feet. I would have sent him flying much further but I really didn't want to hurt him, so it was a glancing blow.

The guards backed off and gave me a wide berth after that, though I saw a couple running toward the guard house. I hoped they were fleeing, but knew they were probably going to get more help. Getting out of Morthal might be more difficult than getting in.

Stopping at the disheveled guard, I pulled him to his feet, kicking his sword away as I did. I asked him a one word question, to which he replied, rather unsteadily, by pointing to the building down the street. I gave him a pat on the back and gave him a little shove toward his fellow guards before heading where he'd indicated.

I wasn't looking forward to that first stop, but it had to be done. I had to see Idgrod one more time to tell her how I felt, how her rejection had hurt me, and how I'd finally convinced myself that I was completely over her, even if, in reality, I wasn't really sure I was. I'd spent practically the entire ride to Morthal thinking about her rather than the vampire problem, so I had see her, tell her how I felt, and get her out of my mind. If I didn't, I knew I never would and would regret it for the rest of my life, if that very life wasn't cut short as a result by the continuing distraction of her.

At the alchemy shop, I opened the door to go inside. As I did, the reality of what I was doing was pressing on me. I really hoped I'd be able to tell her how I felt without making an even bigger fool of myself.

Lami, the alchemist, was working behind the counter. When she saw a potential customer entering, she immediately started into her usual welcome, but when she recognized me, she said, "Oh. I'll, ah, just be upstairs if you two need me."

I didn't know what her look and comment were about, but I actually appreciated not having an audience when I turned to see Idgrod at the alchemy lab in heavy concentration as she worked on brewing a potion. Knowing how important it was to do it carefully and without distraction, I said nothing until she was done. I was prepared to say so much when she completed her work, but, when the time came, not a word came out. Similarly, when she looked up and saw me, she stood staring at me. My heart raced as my anger cooled and my resolve started to waiver.

She broke first. "I'm not sure about in Cyrodiil, but in Skyrim, when a young man from out-of-town is courting a young woman, it is customary for him to give her a bit of advance warning so she can at least wash her face, do her hair, put on a nice dress, and perhaps even rub in some berry juice to color her lips and cheeks."

It was almost as if she had a hint of a grin as she cocked her head slightly, but, being young and lacking the wisdom that comes with experience, I didn't quite understand the opening. In hindsight, I realized that experiences such as this are just how one slowly gains that precisous wisdom that I was so lacking. I really should have have said something. Perhaps I should have told her she looked nice even without all of things she'd mentioned. More importantly, maybe I shouldn't have stood looking at her with my mouth hanging open, no longer having a clue what to say.

The moment passed. Receiving no response, she stepped forward and hit me on the chest with the base of her balled fists. Against my armor. For her, it was hard.

"Oww! You bastard! You don't write me for nearly six weeks and then you just show up? And you just stand there without word?" The back of her hand wiped away a light glisten of sweat, from her efforts over the alchemy burner, from her brow and moved a stray strand of hair out of her face. She also tried to straighten her dirty frock. "Aerik, listen, I thought I liked you, maybe even a lot, but I'm not sure now. You're definitely going to have to do better than this if we're going to have a chance."

As cute as she was when she was mad, it was all I could do to keep from smiling at first, but confusion must have clouded my face as she concluded.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked with a questioning frown.

"You said 'if we're going to have a chance.' So you've changed your mind? Without telling me, of course." Thoughts of how cute she'd just been and how I'd once again, briefly, wanted to take her in my arms evaporated. My anger was returning and I finally remembered what I'd planned to say. Of course, I didn't say any of that. Instead, I picked the stupidest thing possible and let it slip from my lips. "So I guess Nord women are really just like Imperial women after all."

Idgrod's eyes narrowed as her face reddened. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but comparing Nord women to those from Cyrodiil won't win you any points in most parts of Skyrim. So, exactly what do you mean?"

I wish I could say I was smart enough to recognize the trap. Since I wasn't, and since I was used to battling dragons, I took my recently adopted method of charging ahead. "Having daddy dump the potential boyfriend instead of being a big girl and doing it yourself was a real cowardly move—"

"Aerik! My father? Dumping you? What on Nirn are you talking about?"

Once again, Idgrod gave me a chance, but, idiot that I was, I charged on. "And then playing dumb about it. Guess I was the dumb one for hoping you might change your mind and give me another chance, but no! Nothing!"

"Me? Not giving you a chance? I've given you five chances, but you haven't even had the decency to reply."

"What are you talking about? Five chances? Did you whisper and hope the Divines would somehow let me hear? _'Yoo-hoo? Aerik?'_ Or did you decide you'd give me another chance if I showed up at high noon on the 5th or the 6th? Oh, and do you consider that one chance or two?"

"No, Aerik. Nothing stupid like that. No, I sent you five letters, but I haven't heard back from you on any of them. Not even a 'Hi, I'm in,' well, wherever the Hell you were. You didn't have to respond to all of them; I didn't expect that. And depending on carters, there's always a chance one or two might get lost. But five, Aerik. Five letters don't all get lost. Not all five." She stepped close and was looking up into my eyes with a confused look now covering her own face.

My heart was suddenly tingling as I looked in her eyes. "Idgrod, you sent me letters? Really?"

"Five." She held her fingers up in front of me before balling them and hitting my chestpiece again, though I noticed it was with much less force this time. "Five letters." She pounded her fist against me several more times. I later realized it was probably five in total, but I wasn't counting at the time. I was too interested in what she was saying.

"Idgrod, I'm sorry, I didn't receive any of your letters. Not a single one. And you didn't tell your father you never wanted to see me again?"

She shook her head violently. "No! Aerik! I didn't. I promise on all Nine Divines, I didn't tell him that."

I sighed, defeated. "After the way I'd made fun of that Orc and his vampire story, I _really_ thought you were mad at me. That made me believe it was true when your dad said you didn't want to see me anymore. I felt bad about making fun of the guy in front of you, so I came by to apologize and tell you goodbye the next morning. That's when I ran into your father. He told me you'd decided that you didn't want to see me again. He said for me to go and never come back."

She shook her head again. "No, none of it's true, Aerik, I swear. I wasn't upset with you. My best friend was killed by a vampire a few years ago, and the talk about them..."

I could see tears forming in her eyes, so I reached out and held her arms. "So you really didn't want me to leave?"

"No. I was sad when you left, but Father told me...and Father handles the mail for Morthal… _oh,_ that bastard!"

"Idgrod, what do you mean?"

"Father lied to you about me saying that since he must not have liked you—"

"No, _definitely_ didn't like me."

"—and he lied to me saying you'd left after telling him you didn't want to see me anymore—"

"That last part's also definitely not true."

"—and then he must not have put my letters into the mailbags since I know I put them in the mail drop. Aerik, I'm so sorry. I really didn't know. And I truly do love my father, but he is definitely going to pay for this."

As angry as she was, I waited a few seconds to see if she had more to say before finally asking, "With all of that being true, do you think we might still have a chance."

She was biting her lower lip and she cocked her head slightly, similar to before, when she looked at me. "Aerik, I'm sorry. I...I really don't know. I have another one...here." She put her hand over her heart.

I was confused. "Another man? In your heart?"

"What? No, silly," she giggled, the first sign of levity since our discussion had begun. "Another letter. In my bodice. Well, I guess it is over my heart, isn't it. I really shouldn't give it to you though. I was really mad and told you off in it for not answering any of my other letters. The ones you didn't get." She pulled it out and, before I could stop her, she held it over the little flame at the alchemy station. She waved it around for a moment to fan the flame, and then dropped it in the fire bucket filled with sand as the vellum charred and then turned to ash.

"There! Done," she said. All the anger and frustration that had been present only minutes earlier was gone from her face as she gave me a hint of a smile. "So...do you want to try to start over?"

"Idgrod, I think I'd like that very much, but, unfortunately, it can't be right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here on important business. With that Orc guy, Durok? Have you seen him recently? It's really important."

She nodded. "Yes, Durak. He was just down the street at lunchtime, like always, trying to recruit someone into his group. Why do you need him?"

"He doesn't know it yet but he's taking a trip with me to get some answers to some really important, life-or-death-type questions." I was looking at her trying to decide how much more to tell her. My emotions were churning, all the anger I'd felt toward her was gone, so I added, "I hope to see you again soon, Idgrod, and that you'll give me a chance then to see it there really can be something between us, but for now, I must go. If something happens and I never return, I want you to know...I...I cared a great deal about you, and, if I'm completely honest with myself, I still do."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes before she nodded. "I thought so, Aerik, which was what confused me so much. I, ah, I care about you too. A lot has happened though, and I'm just not sure how I feel about you now. I wish you could stay so we could talk and get to know each other better, but if you really have to go, please, come back safely. I don't know what will happen—my gift has given me nothing, though I'm really not as skilled with it as Mother is—but I'd really like for us to have a chance to see if there might still be something between us."

My heart was fluttering at the thought that there might still be that chance with Idgrod, but I struggled to put it out of my mind as I kissed the back of her hand and went on my way.

~ESV~

I seriously thought I'd be dragging the Orc's half-dead body down the center of that street in Mortal while fighting off the guards, but I was surprised when he readily, and happily, agreed to come with me. We stopped at the inn where he wanted to collect his pack. There, I was quite prepared for a trick, or even a trap, but he lived up to his word and soon we were on our way out of town, walking side by side as if long-time companions. The guards gave me evil looks as we passed them, but young Idgrod had given them orders to let us pass; she was looking on them with such a commanding presence I'm not sure if it was the guards or me that was more surprised.

Durak turned out to be a very nice guy, and, on hearing my story, he expressed genuine sorrow at the loss of my friends. He did, however, urge caution, with regards to my mad rush to destroy the vampires.

"You said you've read about vampires, but books don't—can't—tell the tale. Have you ever had a real encounter with vampires? No, I don't mean one or two vampires like your encounter in Morthal; yeah, I know about that. It's what attracted me to you in the first place. I mean a pack of vampires, a whole clan?"

Thinking of the group of bears, I couldn't help but say, "I thought a pack was a group of werewolves."

"I can tell you a little about werewolves, but vampires are a far worse sort, no matter what their group's called. Let me tell you..."

With rainy, cold days and the roads being in poor condition, it was late on the third day before we finally reached Fort Dawnguard. I'd learned just about everything that the Orc could teach me about vampires during that time, and had even gotten practice with his crossbow in the evenings at the inns where we stayed along the way. There were a couple people working on the fort's battlements as we arrived, but they called a friendly hello to Durak and gave me an interested look as we walked up to the main gate.

Durak took me inside where one of the toughest-looking men I've ever seen stood standing in front of a few new recruits. His name was Isran and he didn't look happy with the state of things or with the level of training of the potential new vampire hunters. He was just finishing an address to them, but I was lucky to be spared listening to most of it.

A couple of minutes later, I was handed a crossbow, a heavy contraption that shoots a pointed bolt on a flatter trajectory with a harder force than most typical bows. I practiced with Durak's on trip, but I still fumbled with loading the thing for a few seconds.

Isran came over and shouted at me in his gruff voice. "The vampires would have killed you three times over by now! Faster, recruit! You've got to be faster! Draw! Load! Aim! _Fire!"_

"Sorry," I said, putting down the monstrosity.

As I walked over to my equipment and backpack, Isran's face was turning red. "You're giving up that easily, recruit? Gods be praised that we didn't let you go out in the fie—"

With my regular bow in hand, my first arrow impacted the target, dead center, and the second, fired a moment later, brushed the fletching of the first arrow as it hit. It wasn't a full draw and was fired quickly so I tried not to show that I was as surprised as everyone else. The third arrow, taking a bit more time with the bow fully drawn, followed practically the same course and hit with a thud, seeming louder than it really was since everyone in the training area was silent and watching. It was within a couple of inches of the others. I shot one more for good measure; though a little further from the others on the other side of the first two, it was still within the bullseye.

Holding up my bow, I said, "Boss, if you don't mind, I'll be using my own."

Isran was nodding slowly. "Uh, no problem."

~ESV~


	9. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 5

I spent the next few hours training, but it was soon obvious that I had most of the weapons skills they were teaching in the main class with the other recruits, so I was switched to an advanced, one-on-one class with Durak focused on vampire fighting techniques. The man was fast, powerful, and helpful, so I was learning a lot. It wasn't long, however, before Isran was watching us with another man I'd seen but not met earlier.

"Hold!"

We lowered our weapons, giving me a much-welcomed moment to catch my breath. Isran approached us and said, "Dragonborn, this is Tolan, a Vigilant, a disciple of Stendarr."

Still holding a weapon in each hand, I nodded to him and he did the same.

"Tolan brought evil tidings to us earlier today. The Vigilants' headquarters in The Pale has been sacked by the vampires. While I'm sorry for their loss since I believe some of the deceased were once my friends, he also brings us even more important news. Tolan?"

The man nodded. "One of my fellow Vigilants believed that he had discovered—in an intercepted communication—what may be an ancient vampire relic that the vampires now seek to retrieve. He's been looking into this for a while, but I don't know what he'd found. However, if he was correct, it is vitally important that we not let the vampires succeed."

"What is it they're seeking? And where is it?"

"We don't know what the item is, but Vigilant Adalvald said it was of great power, that it could turn the tide against us and all peoples of Skyrim and possibly all of Tamriel."

I must admit to being a bit skeptical about such high claims, but some months ago, I would never have dreamed that Alduin the World Eater could have been such a danger to our land, either. Therefore, with the deaths of my friends still fresh on my mind, I gently nudged him to continue, hoping to get as much helpful information as possible. "Please, Tolan, continue. Where is the place?"

"We don't know for sure. Adalvald said the letter he intercepted indicated that it may be in a place called Dimhollow Crypt. Unfortunately, names of places change, often drastically, over long periods of time associated with immortals, so we're not completely sure where this it, but it happens that there is a place by that very name located west of our headquarters—well, former headquarters—the Hall of the Vigilants. If this is still the same Dimhollow Crypt, we have heard rumors that it is a most dangerous place. Vigilant Adalvald went there once, but—"

The man hung his head before he continued, "we didn't believe him so we didn't give him the help he needed. I found evidence that he may have been at the Hall when it was attacked, but I didn't find his body, so I'm going there to seek him and the relic."

Isran shook his head forcefully. "Tolan, don't be a fool. You can't go there by yourself. There is strength and safety in numbers, and you don't have either."

"There is no safety when it comes to vampires, in numbers or otherwise. As undead beings, you have to kill them, deader than dead, before they kill you. Dragonborn, don't ever forget that. As for strength, I have enough. I'm going now."

"Wait!" Isran's face was red as he snapped at the Vigilant. "Just a minute!" Turning to me, the boss said, "It's going to take a while to make this place defensible, so I need someone to take the fight to the damn vampires while we're doing repairs. Go to this Dimhollow Crypt and see what you can find. Maybe the vampires will still be there; perhaps you can kill some of them and maybe even keep something important out of their hands. First though, go resupply as needed, get a good night's rest, and then you guys can leave first thing in the morning."

Tolan shook his head. "No, Isran, I'm leaving now, heading to Dimhollow Crypt. Dragonborn, if you want to come—"

I nodded that I would.

"—I'll meet you there when you arrive, but this way, I can keep watch and gather information until you get there." He nodded to me, gave Isran a determined look, and then was on his way.

It was Isran's turn to shake his head in frustration as he watched Tolan go. Turning to me, he said, "Dragonborn, impatience kills as many warriors as arrows and bolts. Of course, arrows and bolts are often the delivery method of death when lack of patience is involved, but charging off without a good plan and proper backup is just asking for disaster. Be careful."

I was going to gather my supplies when Isran called, "Say—are you sure you don't want a crossbow?"

~ESV~

Two days later, I was standing in front of the burned out Hall of the Vigilants. Most of the building had collapsed, but I made my way into the part that was still accessible and found a few charred bodies. It was late afternoon so I left them since they looked like they would collapse into ash if I tried to move them.

The next hour was spent searching the area behind the former hall, but I found nothing except lots of frets and ample frustration that Tolan's description of the crypt's location was so poor. Was it a hundred feet behind the hall or ten miles? Furthermore, Tolan's footprints, if he'd even come this way, had been covered by a thick, fluffy layer of new-fallen snow. Not knowing where to look and with darkness coming soon, I decided to visit the fort I'd passed just a short time before arriving at the hall. I headed there to try to get some help.

The guards at the gate were wearing Stormcloak livery and they gave me an unwelcome look when I told them that I wasn't there to enlist. They were about to send me on my way or try to throw me in their brig, so I told them the truth. "I'm here to speak with the fort commander about a certain threat in the mountains to the west."

Perhaps my wording had been carefully chosen and just maybe my facial expression was a bit exaggerated to give the implication that the "threat" was of an Imperial nature. Fortunately, it worked, and soon I was ushered into the office of the fort's commander.

When I told him the actual nature of the problem, the man looked as angry as anyone I've ever seen. He leaned forward across his desk and practically spit in my face as he shouted, "You bring me an outlandish tale when I'm in the middle of fighting a war? If you're not here to help us, or, better yet, join our cause, you're to get out of here! Now!"

I was doing my best to avoid equaling him in anger, but I restrained myself from my initial urge so I slowly leaned forward as he stood up straight. Speaking slowly but firmly, I replied, "Listen, commander, my cause isn't one side or the other in this stupid war that only hurts our land. My cause is the people of Skyrim. And these vampires, which are very real, are a threat to all of the people, no matter their background. I'm sure someone here in this fort saw the smoke from that fire a few days ago. Those Vigilants that died there may not have been the best fighters in Skyrim, but they weren't exactly wimps either. The vampires wiped out everyone in their hall and they burned it to the ground. Now you think about that, Mr. Stormcloak officer: when they get the chance, the vampires will wipe out whatever else they can, including, if they can find a way, this fort."

I'm not sure what it was, but something seemed to click in the commander's mind. He studied me for a few moments before saying, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately so."

"Gods!" he exploded. "That's all we need in the midst of all of this." He gave an immense sigh of frustration as he acknowledged the reality of the situation.

I almost felt sorry for the man, but I still needed help so I decided to try to lighten the mood. "Sorry, but I didn't ask for it either, and, I must admit, my initial reaction on hearing it wasn't much better than yours."

The commander looked at me, saw I was serious, and laughed. "At least it wasn't just me. So, what do you want? I don't have any troops I can spare to assist you."

"Thanks, but I'm not looking for that. I'm actually looking for an old crypt, supposedly called Dimhollow, and probably located somewhere in the mountains west of here. The vampires may be using it as a base. Would you know where it is?"

The commander didn't. So he had his adjunct bring in more of their officers. None of them had heard of it either, even those from the general area, so he agreed to look at their map. Since it showed the disposition of troops, he told me to have a seat where I wouldn't be able to see, and then he nodded to two of his men to keep an eye on me.

He and the adjunct poured over the map for a while. I couldn't see where, but each finger jab that gave me hope ended up with a frustrated headshake, sometimes sooner and occasionally later. Each such headshake lowered my hopes.

He finally stepped over to me and said, "The location doesn't appear on our maps, but that doesn't mean it's not there. You might visit Jarl Skald in Dawnstar. He or someone there might know the location. If you leave now, you'll be there well after dark, but Jone is full tonight and will be up shortly."

I nodded. "I understand and will be on my way. I greatly appreciate the assistance you've provided."

"Sorry we couldn't do more, but with the current situation being so dire..."

I nodded and thanked him again before giving a little salute and turning to go.

He called after me, "Do you want me to give you a letter to allow you to get past any Stormcloak patrols?"

I thanked him but said no. While it would help if stopped by a Stormcloak patrol, being stopped and found with that by an Imperial patrol would be a certain death sentence.

~ESV~

It was twilight as I left the Stormcloak fort and made my way to the north toward the little city of Dawnstar on the northern coast. A jackrabbit kicked snow from under a snowberry bush to expose some tender shoots below the plant, so a single arrow bought me a latenight dinner in case I couldn't complete the trip before exhaustion took me. I said a word of thanks to the Divines for their bounty as I tied it on the side of my pack and continued on.

The last rays of twilight faded into blackness as I continued to try to follow the road toward Dawnstar. Jone, the Sorrow of Stendarr, soon topped the horizon and started to shine down, as if to expose the evil that had befallen the land, but dark, low-lying clouds appeared to be aligned with the vampires. They did their best to hide the small moon's glow and keep me from finding my way.

Fresh-fallen snow covered the road and only the ruts created by a passing cart sometime earlier that day allowed me to follow it. With the snow half way up to my knee, I trudged onward, hoping to reach Dawnstar before my energy was gone. I stifled one yawn after another as I continued to push forward while trying to stay alert.

It was a blur, as if shifting snow, that caught the corner of my eye as Jone peeked out from behind yet another cloud. I had a couple of seconds, if that, so Bloodthorn was drawn and my shield was made ready even as I turned toward the threat. Not knowing how outnumbered I would be and hoping for help in the wild, I shouted, "Raan Mir Tah!"

The white streak came to a sudden stop about 20-feet from me just as it was about to launch itself in the air.

In the pale light of the moon, I saw it, a large white sabre cat, shaking its head as if confused. It had been prepared to eat me, but then something much stronger than hunger had compelled it to stop and look for how it might help me instead. Seeing no threats, it shook its head repeatedly, trying to shake off the unnatural feeling, even as I began to speak.

"Stay calm, boy. It will be okay," I said in what I hoped was a soothing voice. "Sorry about the allegiance shout, but I thought you might be a troll and that I might need a distraction. I can't tell you how much I hate trolls."

The giant cat snarled at me, still unsure about the situation. I continued, hoping something was getting through to him. "We're out here, a long way from anywhere, so I don't want to hurt you and sure don't want you hurting me either. Let's just keep calm and we might both get through this."

~ESV~

_My comment about trolls a moment before had caused the kids to laugh, but Aerica now has a questioning look on her face. "Daddy, were you trying to turn the big cat into a pet?"_

__

__

I shake my head. "No, dear. That big sabre cat was a wild animal. I could bend its will toward me temporarily, but I could never force it to be friends with any of my family or friends. It wouldn't have been safe." I recall a similar situation where I made a bear be an ally once upon a time for a few minutes. Unfortunately, while reasonably "friendly" to me, it was quite protective and almost killed my dog before I could stop it.

I sigh at the memory of that good old dog, now long gone. I look back at my daughter. "Aerica, do you understand?"

_She shakes her head slowly. "I guess, Daddy. Wild animals can be beautiful, but they probably wouldn't be very good pets."_

~ESV~

With nothing for the beast to fight, I honestly wasn't sure what would happen when his required allegiance expired, so I called him and started moving, as quickly as I could, on toward Dawnstar. The cat followed along, just a short distance back and a bit to the side, covering my flank against anything that might come against us, but also putting himself in a great position to pounce on me once his geas had ended.

When his time of allegiance was growing short, I stopped and turned back toward him. "Okay, easy boy. You'll be free of it in a minute, but don't get any ideas. You've been a big help," I praised, "so let's leave it at that so nobody gets hurt."

He was twitching his ears and curling his lips to completely expose those great big teeth as the shout's effect ended. He still looked unsure about what to do, so I used Bloodthorn to cut the little cord that tied the rabbit to my pack. Still holding the shield between us in case he charged, I got a good grip on the jack and said, "Here, take this with my thanks, and go, my friend."

The cat grabbed the jackrabbit out of the air as it sailed toward him. I'm not sure if the cat sensed that I meant business or if he just figured the rabbit would be an easier meal than me, he snarled defiantly at me once more and then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

~ESV~

Like the Stormcloak commander, Jarl Skald, who'd been on his way to bed when I arrived, didn't believe my report of the vampire threat either. "Ludicrous! There are no vampires in The Pale! Be gone!"

Fortunately, Jod, the jarl's housecarl and defacto steward spoke up. "Sir, I'm not... _exactly _sure...that's correct."__

____

____

"What? What are you babbling about, Jod?"

"Well, sir, there have... _actually_...been several sightings of possible vampires in recent months, and at least six families in the countryside have been burned out in that same period. I didn't bother you with such reports because I couldn't be certain the reports were credible."

"But the Dragonborn walks into my hall and you suddenly believe they might be? There are always people in the countryside, traveling from place to place, that might be viewed suspiciously, and there are houses that burn down every year. Suddenly you think they might be vampires!" Skald laughed. "What are you, Jod? A man like in our days when we were warriors, or have you become a mouse?"

"It's true that I'm more cautious, sir, but in this day and situation where anyone, including old friends, could be ally or enemy, it pays to be. In this case, though, I hadn't associated the two events until hearing the Dovahkiin's report. True, there are people in the countryside, including Imperial scouts or even spies, but they usually haven't disappeared without a trace when a patrol passes by. And it's also true that houses burn down every year; that's the nature of our homes and our fireplaces. However, it's usually only one or two houses each year in the entire Pale and there are usually some survivors. That's my recollection from over twenty-five years of service to Dawnstar, sir. This year is different; we're talking about a half dozen homes burned in the past few months without a single survivor, sir. It could be coincidence...but then again, it just might not be."

The jarl sighed as he pondered Jod's report. "Dovahkiin, assuming what you say is true and Jod hasn't become a complete milkdrinker, you say you're going after the vampires? We will allow you to do this, but we are quite shorthanded at the moment. I will not be able to send anyone to help you."

"That's fine, sir. I wouldn't want to endanger them anyway," I replied. "If you tell me where to find a place called Dimhollow Crypt, I'll be on my way."

The jarl bowed his head and rubbed his temples as if in heavy concentration. He said nothing for close to a minute before looking up at me. "I think I know the map of my province as well as anyone alive, and that name means nothing to me." Turning to his advisor, he added, "Jod, get with Frorkmar and the two of you locate that crypt. Frorkmar may have seen a reference to it in his studies of our countryside. Dragonborn, as for you, get some rest. If this is what you say, you'll need it."

Jarl Skald had seemed to be at a stopping point as he closed his eyes and slowly bowed his head again. Suddenly, though, he snapped his fingers and sat up straight. "Jod, get Madena involved, too. I doubt she would be much help in regard to the old records, but maybe she'll be willing to use a bit of her magic, if that's what it takes, to help find the place. That way we might get at least a little use out of her."

I gave the jarl a questioning look, but he waved his hand and shook his head lightly in reply. "Nevermind. Just get your rest. If the place exists and anyone in the Pale knows its location, we'll have it for you in the morning, even if it takes my advisors all night."

~ESV~


	10. Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 6:

I'm not a fan of caves. Any time you need to find a specific one, it's like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. You have to find the right haystack before you can start looking for the needle. As I searched the next afternoon, that was exactly what I was thinking.

I was climbing what might have been a steep trail up into the mountains. On the other hand, with the snow on the ground and more falling as I climbed, it could also have been a natural swale so I moved slowly and carefully, trying to keep from slipping and tumbling down the mountainside.

If their guess was correct, the officials at the White Hall believed the old, unmarked cavern on the map was probably what Tolan had called Dimhollow Crypt.

"It doesn't appear on two other maps, Dragonborn, so we're not sure if it was a real cavern or just an errant mark on the map," Jod had explained. "Take it for what it's worth."

I'd shaken my head. "Well, it's the best lead I have. Can I see that map? And may I have another paper and borrow a quill?"

He frowned, questioningly, but gave me what I'd requested, along with an inkwell and duster. Putting the paper over the map, I marked it with lines that intersected that point and two other distant points to use in helping me locate it. From high in the mountains, it could be oriented on the landmarks and me get in the right vicinity.

That had been the morning theory. The afternoon exposed its flaws.

With low-hanging, dark clouds and continuing snowfall, the little triangle wasn't helping very much since I couldn't see 100 feet, much less miles away. While I love my homeland, our weather sometimes makes life difficult.

Finally reaching my fill, I quietly cleared my throat to use my Thu'um to clear the skies, but then stopped. A dragon shout would make a lot more noise and announce my presence to more potential enemies than my throat clearing. Therefore, my search continued in silence and gloom.

It was almost dark when I finally found the entrance to a cave, hidden by some snow-covered, cut spruce saplings. It was almost exactly where I thought it should be, but there had still been no sign of Tolan. Since I'd already passed by within yards of the entry at least two or three times, I could only think the Divines that Lydia wasn't with me to give me a hard time about missing it. Of course, if she had been, she might have seen it to help me avoid the problem in the first place. Thinking of her with Lucia and Idgrod in Morthal, I said a silent little prayer to the Nine Divines for all my ladies before I went inside.

~ESV~

On second thought, I dislike caves.

While I may admire the many varied and sometimes beautiful formations that my friend Calcelmo told me may have taken hundreds or even thousands of years to form, when I walk into a cavern, it's practically never with the intent to look at pretty rocks and scenery. Similar to crypts, tunnels, Dwemer ruins, and almost anything else that is formed in or cut into natural rock, I'm usually there to find, face, and eliminate trouble before that trouble can find and put an end to me, my friends, or my countrymen.

One of the biggest problems with caves is that, when there's no source of light, they are dark, blacker than the darkest night. When you close your eyes in the darkness, it sometimes seems lighter looking at the inside of your eyelids than the pitch of the cave itself. The shock of opening your eyes and finding yourself as if blind is also quite disorienting.

In this case, though, I was lucky to find a very dim light when I'd gone far enough that the light from outside could no longer help. Still, it took a little while for my eyes to adjust to the conditions. Luminescent lichens grew in places and strange glowing goop pooled in some low spots, giving off a dim light, making me wonder if that had something to do with the crypt's name. It wasn't enough, though, but I was spared from popping off a candelight spell by the braziers and torches that were scattered along in what would have otherwise been the darker areas of the passage. That answered my first question: the place was definitely occupied.

I moved ever-so-slowly through what appeared to have been a natural cave that showed marks of being partially hollowed out years, centuries, or even millennia before. I hadn't gone far when I heard voices coming from somewhere ahead, so I froze, my eyes straining to see people or movement or whatever I could in the relative darkness ahead. The voices faded without me being able to understand exactly what they said so I moved forward to what appeared to be a brighter area ahead.

The brightness turned out to be where the narrow passage opened up into a large cavern that was dimly lit similar to the passage through which I'd just traversed. Staying back in the relative shadow of the tunnel, I took in as much of the view of the cavern as I could.

It was large but not completely open. Several large columns stretched from cave floor to ceiling, blocking the view of parts of the space beyond. An underground stream fed into the cavern from one side, flowed a short distance, and then disappeared into another hole to exit that part of the cave.

On the opposite side of the cavern from me, there was some type of man-made wall with a window set near the top, almost like a tower in a fortified wall. I was just starting to look to the left to view the rest of the area when something much closer caught my eye.

It was the flickering light of one of the braziers that allowed me to see something hidden among the rocks just a few feet in front of me. Moving silently and using the shadows to my advantage, I moved forward to find that it was a dead body on the ground. Dressed in a strangely-configured leather and cloth armor, the body's facial features, teeth, and claw-like nails made me realize this was a vampire. Then I saw another body a few feet beyond.

As soon as I saw it, my mind said "No!" but my heart told me whose body that was. Low to the ground, I crept forward to confirm that it was indeed Tolan. I closed the dead Vigilant's eyes but had no time to do more since, across the cavern, someone wearing that same type of strange armor as the first body walked out of a side cave, looked around, and then continued into another cavern or room or something out of my sight.

Taking advantage of the moment, I slipped forward as much as I could, finding another dead vampire just a short distance beyond Tolan. "Thank, you, Mister Vigilant," I whispered back to the dead man. That's when I saw the side cavern with the iron portcullis. There was no immediately obvious way to open it but no opponents visible either, so my eyes quickly scanned the rest of the area. Again, I was lucky to see no one nearby.

With my only known opponent relatively far away, I switched to my bow, getting it strung just in time before the wandering vampire returned from wherever he'd gone.

It was pretty obvious that this guy wasn't expecting company, and I'm not sure, based on his movements, that all was right in his head. Or perhaps he had been a great dancer before he became a vampire. Whatever it was, he was moving gracefully, as if to music that no one else in the world could hear.

With no cover between us, I drew my bow, took careful aim, and let the shaft fly. As skilled as I'd become with my bow in recent months, I had no doubt that my arrow would slay the vampire before he had time to call out.

~ESV~

_"Daddy? That's not fair, is it? Kristov said we should always fight fair, but if you shot the vampire before he even saw you, that doesn't seem fair, does it?"_

_I look at my little philosopher. "Aern, when you and your sister or Andres fight with your big brother—any of your big brothers, for that matter—I expect a fair fight. That means no biting, scratching, poking fingers or throwing things in the eyes, pulling hair, kicking or hitting when someone's down or yields, or anything like that. We've talked about that, right?"_

_All three nod in agreement, and say, "Yes, sir."_

_Looking at Aern, I ask, "When you're doing this, you guys aren't trying to kill each other, right?"_

_"No, Daddy. We just play like that so we can get stronger and learn how to fight better. And Andres and I almost pinned Kristov the other day."_

_"Is that how you got the bruise?"_

_"Ahem… yes, sir."_

_"Well, it's a really good one. You can be very proud of that bruise because it shows that you fought hard," I say, having now confirmed my earlier suspicions that Kristov had been the source of Aern's shiner. I mentally add having a talk with Kristov to my list of things to do. He knows he's not supposed to be too rough with the twins or Andres, though, in this case, I suspect he may have just been defending himself._

_"Now, same thing I just said goes if you're fighting with one of your friends. However, if someone attacks you for real, even, when you get older, if it's someone you thought was your friend, you have to fight as if your life depends on it, with every ounce of strength you've got and with every resource at your disposal, whether it's your teeth or fingernails or dirt, rocks, boulders, knives, axes, swords, spears...or, ah, frying pans—"_

_The kids laugh._

_"—or…well, whatever else you can get your hands on. When you're fighting for real, if you don't do everything you possibly can to stay alive, you probably won't. Understand?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Good. That's the situation here. In this case, while it might not have been this particular vampire, the vampires had attacked and killed my friends and any number of other people. They'd shown they were out to kill people, so they'd effectively declared war on all peoples of Skyrim. They'd also killed Vigilant Tolan, just a few feet away from where I was hiding. Therefore, it was a situation where they'd already given up any right to a 'fair' fight. In this case, I had to kill them before they killed me, and every one I could pick off before I ran into a group of them increased my chance of surviving. That's why, when I let that arrow fly, it was as fair as fair could be. Make sense now?"_

_All three children nod but then all cry out when I say, "Of course, what wasn't fair was when that arrow missed."_

~ESV~

Between my own improving archery skills, as exhibited at Fort Dawnguard, and Lydia's now legendary shot with the dragon, I'd actually grown quite comfortable in expecting arrows to hit their target. Of course, my expectations were somewhat tainted by the facts that, while I didn't always hit the bullseye, I always hit the straw target, and, in Lydia's case, her miracle shot was a result of missing what she'd actually been aiming for. Straw targets are wider than most people, and a missed shot is usually just that, a missed shot.

Vampires aren't straw targets either. They move, and often move quickly. In this case, I was surprised when the dancing vampire did a strange, almost pirouette-like move and the arrow sailed right by him. I cringed and was ready to charge forward to try to end him before he could raise the alarm, but the arrow flew right into that side passage next to the stone building. The vampire may have heard the arrow fly by him—he glanced around, but saw nothing—but heard the clatter in that hall, presumably when the arrow hit a wall, right afterward. He moved that way to investigate.

I was up and moving as quickly and quietly as I could, trying to close the distance while he was out of the main cavern. I got to the sidewall next to the entrance just a second before she, it turned out, walked out, having apparently found nothing.

Bloodthorn, as sharp as Lydia's favorite straight razor, found her before she could cry out. I'd killed the first vampire in my crusade to avenge my friends and put an end to the threat the fiends posed to Skyrim. There was still a very long way to go.

~ESV~

Okay, I'll admit it: I hate caves.

As if the darkness isn't bad enough, there are often strange noises like wind moaning, whistling, or howling through the place, dripping water, tumbling water, little creatures scurrying, and no telling what other causes. These often give caves an almost spooky type of feeling, but they sometimes can be useful, such as covering up other sounds like my fight with another vampire just a couple of minutes after I'd killed the first one.

The side corridor went to a small room but it also had a side branch with steps up into the stone tower-like structure. The masonry work looked ancient, with large gaps between roughly carved stones. I wouldn't mention it but I saw the nock end of my missing arrow in one of these gaps, where the arrow had sailed into the crack and gotten lodged. A little tug didn't free it, so it's probably still there to this day.

Moving as quietly as possible with Bloodthorn in my hand and my shield held ready to be raised in front of me, I was almost to the top of the steps when a horrid-looking man stepped to the top of the stairs as if he was about to go down. Dried blood stained his chin on both sides of his mouth and his eyes were narrow slits; his tongue was running over his lips, as if trying to savor the blood on them that had already been wiped away. He was carrying something in his hand that was holding his attention, distracting him, so he barely glanced up on sensing my presence, saying a name that may have belonged to the vampire I'd just slain.

The huge black hound next to him, on the other hand, wasn't distracted in the least. I couldn't hear the name the vampire said because the dog snarled and tensed to jump at me even as I slashed forward with my dagger, killing the beast with a well placed blow to its throat. A spray of blood coated Bloodthorn and my gauntlet.

This gave the surprised vampire just enough time to overcome any advantage my initial surprise might have offered. He roared at me, baring fangs, and slashed forward with a clawed hand as he drew a hand axe from his belt. It came around in a flash.

The impact of the axe on my ebony shield caused a great clatter, as did the vampire's second roar as Bloodthorn sliced through his armor but not quite deep enough to cut him.

"I will kill you, pitiful human," he threatened menacingly as he raked his clawed fingers toward me, but that was not to be. Between my armor, my shield, my blade, and my determination, he didn't have a chance.

A few moments later, I was looking out the observation window near the top of the tower, trying to see if anyone had heard our battle, if anyone was coming to assist him. My bow was drawn as I searched for any targets that might be approaching, trying to ignore the whole time the presence of a big pull chain next to the window.

After a few seconds without seeing anyone coming running, I let off on the tension on the string, but, still, I watched, finally concluding that the configuration and build of the tower must have muffled the sound or that any sounds that might have carried must have been somewhat similar to all of those other sounds I'd been hearing earlier.

Try as I might, I couldn't tell what the chain operated, but I hoped it operated a counterweight for the portcullis instead of an alarm bell. Holding my breath in anticipation, I reached up and pulled it.

~ESV~

With the portcullis open, I made my way through the cave, moving slowly and quietly. A few vampires and other undead creatures fell to my blade or my arrows along the way.

Things went well until I noted lights being extinguished in a room at the end of passage. Despite my muffling skill, perhaps I hadn't been as quiet as I believed.

That left a dilemma. If one creeps into a dark, defended place, the one entering and the defenders inside may be on nearly equal footing; they can't see each other, but those in the space probably know it better and can have traps set for the unsuspecting. Some creatures even have the ability to see in the dark.

One the other hand, if one walks into that same dark place holding a torch, carrying a candle, or being accompanied by a candlelight spell, the light serves to draw attention to the person carrying it and may only light up a small part of the space. This makes the person a perfect target; anyone further away, outside the area lit by the light, can see the person entering and fire away with missile weapons without being seen. Spells can be effective in many cases, too, though many may expose the original location of the caster.

Therefore, I decided it was best to use neither option. With my bow out, I would fire a magelight spell well into the room, possibly temporarily blinding or at least distracting those inside, allowing me to slip in and see the situation before the fight began. With luck, I would be mistaken about the lights being put out and the room would just be empty, and if not, I could use my bow to eliminate some of the bad guys before they could close the distance.

Concentrating on the chosen spell, I said the words, made the motions, and then used the command for my magicka to power the spell.

Nothing happened.

Deep underground in a cavern practically swarming with vampires, I couldn't make the spell work. Frustration and fear swept over me. How could I complete my mission if even simple tasks were beyond my ability? First the arrow and now a spell that I was depending on? What else could—?

 _No!_ I told myself. _No doubts! Concentrate!_ I'd worked hard to learn the bow, and harder still to learn my spells. In fact...

Yes, I'd had a lot of problems learning my spells. I'm a Nord, after all, and we aren't really supposed to be good at magic. That's almost an unwritten rule at the College in Winterhold, but, after finally accepting that magic was part of me, despite my heritage, I worked hard to succeed and to prove that old saw wrong. With great effort, I'd learned new spells. After that, though, I would almost always forget some part that would cause my spell to fail. It was a struggle, as spell after spell failed.

I finally solved the problem while demonstrating my magical ineptitude to my daughter. Or rather, Lucia solved it for me.

As her candle slowly burned down one evening, she watched me, through any number of giggles, struggle for many minutes to cast the candlelight spell. The motions, the words, and the finger snap at the end to give it magicka power were repeated over and over. Seriously, I don't know how many times I tried, but each effort would see my little candlelight flicker once and die. Knowing that the candle had only moments left before it burned out, I finally gave one last, desperate effort and the candlelight spell took hold.

"You did it, Pa! You lit it!" she exclaimed. I was almost exhausted from the effort, but I was surprised when Lucia said the words she'd just heard so many times, traced the motions, and snapped her fingers just as I'd tried each time. Her room was immediately bathed in another light and my mouth fell open.

While most of the professors, some of whom are my dear friends, at the College will tell you that "one simply cannot learn a magical spell without using a spell book," Nord parents have long taught at least some of their children how to cast the healing cantrip without having anything written down. It takes some of us many tries (as my father would attest, if he still lived) and some can never learn it at all without one of the spell books the mages advocate (and which they will sell you for the right price), but some seem to pick up on it relatively easily.

Lucia had been one of those. She had learned the little healing spell in only a few tries and been on her way out to play well before lunchtime. Now, she'd learned the candlelight spell from just watching me, even though I'd done the entire spell correctly only one time. Maybe it had to do with her late mother's Imperial blood, but she'd memorized my every motion and every word and put them together correctly. Thinking perhaps it was a fluke, I asked her to do it again. After she'd repeated the casting three more times in a row, I was convinced that she had it. This time, she asked me to go outside to play hide-n-seek with her and her friends.

After that, we continued to work together on our spells and I was excited about the possibility of teaching her others, but my own magical inability put an end to that plan. I was completely unable to teach her another spell since I couldn't get any of the ones I'd supposedly learned to work. Frustrated, I finally visited Farengar, the court wizard at Dragonsreach, and purchased a couple of other novice level spell tomes for her. She learned them quickly on using the books, and then set out to help me with the parts I'd apparently forgotten since learning them in Winterhold.

In the days that followed, Lucia would, from time to time, ask for a few coins as an "allowance." I assumed it was for candy, treats, or such, but Lydia had only laughed when, concerned that I might be making her fat, I mentioned that.

"Thane, my Thane, poor deluded soul. Your really don't know?"

"Know? Know what?"

"Thane, she's been using that money to buy her own magic books from Farengar. She knows more spells than you by now."

On learning this, I upped her allowance without letting on that I knew what she was doing, bought her a power ring and necklace to increase her magicka, and was soon practicing more advanced spells with her.

A smile crossed my face as I thought of my daughter casting her spells and something clicked in my concentration. Aiming high so it would go well into the room or hit a far wall up high, I cast the magelight spell. A little light coalesced near my fingertips and then shot into the room. I didn't wait to see the result, instead casting another to the right and then one to the left in a matter of seconds. Then, I stepped near the entrance with my bow drawn.

~ESV~

_The boys hang on every word as I briefly describe the battle with the skeleton warriors that waited for me in the cavern with and their vampire leader, but Aerica looks quite skeptical._

_"Daddy, how do skeleton warriors work? Why don't they just fall apart? And if they're skeletons, where are their brains? You said they responded to what you did, so they must have had at least a little brains, right?"_

_My response of "They're undead creatures created by magic" doesn't quite placate her, but I continue reading the story, hoping I don't have to prove my ignorance any further on the subject. Not wanting to give the kids nightmares, I had deliberately left out of my writing my recollection of the vampires torturing and finally killing the Vigilant named Adalvald before I could intervene. His death haunted me for a while but I finally accepted that there was nothing that I or anyone else could have done to save him, try as we might._

_I continue by reading a somewhat sanitized version of my battle with the vampires. They hear of the fight and how I ultimately killed the evil creatures without learning how close I myself came to dying in the process._

~ESV~

Finding no other enemies around me, I finally had time to study the situation and read some notes I found in the cavern.

I was on a circular island in the middle of a subterranean lake. If it was natural, it had been heavily modified with vertical sides, a flat floor with strange patterns and grooves, and two rings of arches. There were several brazier-like objects centered in the grooves in several locations, but none were lit. However, the most interesting object was in the very center of the island.

A small, five-sided pedestal about waist high stood there as if asking to be noticed, with a little dome a few inches high with a flat circle on top. It looked like a button to me, but I was hesitant, unsure, since the vampires apparently hadn't checked it. I took a breath and, with one finger, pushed down on the edge of the circle, but it didn't budge, nor did it with two or even three. I was about to give up, accepting that it was just a decoration, but suddenly decided to use my palm to push down with force.

A sharp pain stabbed through my hand. A sharply-pointed spike, covered in my blood, was retracting into the pedestal. I was about to strike it with my sword, in hopes of bending it over so it couldn't retract, but purplish flames in one of the braziers attracted my attention. Perhaps human blood had been the missing element and the reason the vampires couldn't open it?

The braziers being moved in the grooves on the floor acted as a key, of sorts. When the last was in the correct spot, there was a grating noise and the floor started dropping away. I backed away as a bluish-gray cube was slowly revealed to be more rectangular instead of square on its vertical side.

The floor stopped dropping when it had formed a circular, amphitheater type bowl and the stone box was about 7-feet tall. I approached the box with care and then walked all around it. Someone had gone to a great deal of effort to build this elaborate vault. It had to be where the vampires' ancient relic was stored. On seeing an embedded latch on one side, I activated it and stepped to the side in case it was also booby-trapped.

It was a quiet rumble as two of the four sides of the box started moving downward to reveal the artifact, but as it did, my expectations completely changed. It wasn't an ancient weapon, a powerful staff, a huge gemstone or a piece of fancy jewelry, or even a suit of armor in that stone vault. Instead, it was a beautiful young woman, dressed in quaint clothes that might have been pictured in an old book of fairy tales, who collapsed onto the ground before me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story. I'll also greatly appreciate your feedback.
> 
> For those who enjoy high fantasy fiction and are looking for completed stories, I also invite you to check out my Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series. Based on the heroic anti-heroes of Fritz Leiber (who originally coined the term "swords and sorcery"), the big barbarian and his friend the little thief were staples of fantasy magazines, books, and comic books for over 50 years.


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